Burning bridges
by Chiliesincarne
Summary: "Arthur! What is going on! What happened!" Hermione jumped off her seat and rapidly cleared the dining table, seeing the gravity of the situation. She immediately recognized who they were caring inside their home and saw he was seriously hurt. Draco Malfoy was almost completely covered in blood. "Hermione, go wake up Esmeralda! She'll know what to do." Draco/OC
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

3:23. Molly Weasley was sitting in the dining room of the Burrow, staring at the clock. She turned around and glanced at another clock behind her. That one did not give the time but did indicate that three members of the family were late. Very late. She heard light footsteps coming down the stairs. The Burrow had been rebuilt after it was destroyed with fire by the Death Eaters a few years ago so the floor did not crack after every step like it used to.

"Still no news?". Hermione appeared in the door frame. She looked very tired, her hair tied in a high bun, but her too couldn't sleep. Ron usually made sure she knew if he was going to be late or taking the night shift. Harry too, specially knowing his best friend's mother would be sick worried waiting for them to come back home.

"No, sweetheart, nothing. I called Arthur's office and the Auror Office: nobody knows where they are. "

"Or nobody wants us to know…", Hermione said while pouring coffee in two mugs. She looked at outside through the kitchen window: the night was particularly dark, the moon being covered by thick clouds. There was a little bit of fog hovering over the fields surrounding the house. She scanned the sky, looking for them, but only saw a couple of owls hunting for their next feast.

"You shouldn't drink coffee at this time of the night sweetheart, you won't be able to sleep." Molly said with the usual maternal tone in her voice. Hermione just smiled at her. They already had been awake all night and in less then an hour they would start to see the first rays of sun peeking above the horizon.

"Is Ginny sleeping?"

"Yes, she just fell asleep a few minutes ago. But she's not really worried about them, she was just awake to keep me company."

"After all what happened to Harry in his life, she really thinks he's invincible" Molly said nodding her head.

The two women had stopped talking and for a few minutes silence had invaded the room. They were just staring at the dark liquid in their cup. Hermione turned around as she started to hear drops of rain crashing against the windows.

"Oh Merlin, I am so distracted I almost forgot that I take my coffee with milk!", Molly laughed as she got her wand and pointed at the refrigerator. Suddenly, as a carton of milk was floating across the room, the back door bursted open. Molly's husband was the first to come inside the house, followed by Harry and Ron. But the boys were carrying another person on their shoulders. Molly forgot about the carton in mid-air and dropped the milk all over the floor.

"Arthur! What is going on?! What happened?!"

Hermione jumped off her seat and rapidly cleared the dining table, seeing the gravity of the situation. She immediately recognized who they were caring inside their home and saw he was seriously hurt. Draco Malfoy was almost completely covered in blood.

"We don't know. I was about to leave when I received an anonymous message saying Malfoy Mansion was burning. Almost everybody had left the Ministry already except for the boys so they came with me but it was too late: when we got there, there was nothing we could of done to stop the fire but we found him unconscious outside."

"He's not only unconscious but terribly wounded!" Molly screamed, incapable of holding back her tears. Seeing the boy's clothes entirely soaked in blood…It was more than what she could handle. Her Ron was also covered in blood but she knew he was alright.

"That's why we brought him here instead of St. Mungo's, Honey. Look at the wounds, specially on his forearm, I don't think they can do anything for it over there."

Molly and Hermione covered their mouth in horror when they saw the gruesome wound. "You're right, Arthur. Hermione, go wake up Esme! She'll know what to do."

...

Draco was awake: he could hear voices whispering around him but was incapable of opening his eyes. He must have been laying in bed for a very long time, his body was sore, tired of laying down on a mattress he knew wasn't his. He felt a lot of pressure on his left forearm, almost like an anvil had been dropped on it. He was starting to feel the pain, a burning sensation mixed with a thousand pinches. He tried to move his arm but realized it had been immobilized.

"Don't move. I'm almost done."

It was the husky voice of a girl, probably not older than him. He opened his eyes with difficulty but was only able to see curly blond hair masking the face of the girl leaning on his arm. He felt immediately asleep, incapable of fighting off the fatigue.

….

They had laid the man on the dining table. Esmeralda entered the room and was first shocked to see all the blood on the floor. Molly was sitting in the kitchen and was immediately joined by Hermione. They both burst into tears and hugged each other. Ron was pale and looked exhausted. Harry had his hands pressed on the man's arm, wrapped with linen and with Arthur's tie serving as a garrotte above the wound.

"What is going on?", she asked. "Don't omit any details". She said this looking straight at Arthur. She knew exactly what was going on but she also knew he was going to hide information from her. This was not just an ordinary incident.

"We found him like this. On the ground, outside his house."

She had gotten closer to the boy. She recognized him: she had seen him on the newspapers. He was a Malfoy. And barely alive. She ripped off his shirt with her two hands, making the buttons fly across the room. It was even worse than what it looked like. She touched with the tip of her fingers the lacerations he had on his torso. They were superficial and not life-threading. Then, she ripped the sleeve as well to free the injured arm. It looked like somebody had tried to carve a hole in it. She noticed right away the tattoo, or at least what was left of it. "The dark mark. Did he tried to get rid of it?" she thought to herself. "No, I don't think he would of been able to inflict such injury to himself".

"He has been attacked. With dark magic.", she said without raising her eyes from him.

All their faces turned white. It was the last thing they wanted to hear. Yes, Draco Malfoy had been a death eater and had done terrible things to them for years but still they could not bare to see him in this state. He had switched sides since the war and had redeemed himself by informing the Ministry and Auror office of the whereabouts of those whose loyalty still remained with Voldemort. Also, and most importantly for them, Draco had paid for the reconstruction of the Burrow. But, independently of your past and present actions, nobody deserved a treatment like this. Esmeralda saw their despair.

"Don't worry, you know there's nothing that I can't do'', she said while taking Harry's place next to Draco. She smiled at them while pressing her hands on her arm. Almost instantly the wound stopped bleeding but the smile she had on her face ten seconds ago disappeared as well. "I am not going to lie but don't know if I'll have to amputate his arm. There's important nerve and deep tissue damage. There's even some signs of gangrene and necrosis. I'm afraid the damages are irreversible." He was breathing heavily and she knew his lungs were filling up with blood.

"Bring him to my room. We cannot leave him here."

Arthur nodded with his head and levitated Draco's body to a room on the second floor. Esmeralda could not take care of him in there: it reminded her of when they had brought Fred back home a few months ago. She tried for hours to bring him back to life but it was already too late. She was certain this was the reason why Molly could not bare to be in the dining room with Draco on the table: it was almost like reliving that terrible night over again.

Esmeralda ran to the linen closet and grabbed a couple of clean towels. On her way up, she found Hermione, Harry and Ron waiting for her at the entrance of her room.

"Guys, go back to sleep. I will need your help tomorrow. You too, Molly, don't worry, I will take care of him."

...

The door of Esmeralda's bedroom remained closed the whole morning. Even though she appreciated the gesture when people wanted to offer their help, she preferred to work alone. She had gotten out of the room only once to quickly run to the garden and bring back some herbs to apply as a plaster on his arm. The whole household was still in their rooms and would probably remain in until later that day.

Draco's breathing had gone back to normal but she was still concerned about his arm. It would take still a few hours before knowing if the treatment was working. At this point, she just wanted to sit down on the armchair next to the bed and close her eyes for a few minutes but he was still all dirty with his own blood. She approached a small bucket with warm water close to the bed and got the last clean hand towel she had there in the room.

She had never undressed a man in her life. In fact, she had never been left alone in a room with one, specially with the door closed. If her father and brother would hear about this, they would be furious. And with a Malfoy on top of that! Arthur and Molly will probably omit these details from them.

She took him out of what was left of his shirt. She hadn't noticed before but he had many little scars all over his torso. They were very small, not longer than a centimetre, but whatever did them must have penetrated very deep inside his skin.

"Dark magic…again…"

She cleaned his face and the rest of his upper body and finally sat in her armchair. "He's going to be okay…" she said one last time to herself before falling asleep.

* * *

 _Hello to all!_

 _I am happy my sucky summary did not keep you from reading the first chapter of my story! Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome and are always a great source of encouragement for the author so don't be shy ;) In the next chapter you will learn more details about Esmeralda and I want to apologize for something right away: this original character has a specific cultural background that is going to be reveal later on. I am not an expect about that culture/race/nation but I will use information that I have acquired from the worst school ever: internet and tv shows (I will try to stay away from reality shows...you will know what I meant by that later...). I am sorry in advance if something I wrote is not correct or offensive (omg I hope it doesn't get to that extreme!). Also, forgive my grammar errors, mistakes and vocabulary: english is not my maternal language but this should not be an excuse since I speak it everyday, almost all the time._

 _I do not own the Harry Potter story and characters nor the image used as a cover for this story._

 _Ok, that's it for now. I will try to post new chapters at least every week._

 _Bye!_


	2. Chapter 2

_The Ministry of Magic has received an anonymous message informing them Malfoy Mansion is engorged in flames._

 _Arthur, Harry and Ron found arriving there an unconscious and severely injured Draco._

 _They brought him back to the Burrow where they called for Esmeralda, a young woman living with them who might be the only one able to save his life._

 **CHAPTER 2**

"RON! Don't open the door! Harry! Tell him not to!"

"But they've been in there all day! Everybody wants to know what is going on!"

The rest of the household had been awake now for a few hours and the noises and conversations going around had just waken Esmeralda up. She replaced the blanket over herself and glanced at her patient (she thought she was entitled to call him like that by now). He seemed to be out of danger, just peacefully sleeping. She was about to go back to sleep when she heard a knock on the door.

"Esme, can I come in? Molly made you a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese, your favourite." Arthur opened the door and a floating tray came inside her room and landed directly on her lap.

He closed the door behind him but not before Esmeralda could see Ron and Hermione wrestling and pushing each other for a glance inside the room.

"I am glad to see you decided to take the day off." Esme said while trying to sit straight on the armchair so she could eat her meal. Tomato soup and grilled cheese was truly her favourite and even though she did not feel hungry before, the aromas coming to her nose quickly woke up her appetite.

"Well, I just got a couple of hours of sleep last night." He physically looked exhausted: dark circles had formed under his eyes and he hadn't yet combed his hair. He walked across the room and stand on the other side of the bed, facing her. "So, is he alright? His arm…were you able to do something?" Draco still had the mixture of herbs she had prepared a few hours before, forming a hard green crust over the wound.

"I think he's now out of danger but I will still keep an eye on him, at least until he wakes up." Esme took a last bite of her sandwich and savoured it.

While she was starting to eat her soup, Arthur could not not notice she had only used her right arm until now, keeping the left one under her cover since he had entered the room. To adjust herself first, then to eat her grilled cheese sandwich and now her soup, she had done all these actions only using one hand. "Esmeralda, why are you keeping your left arm covered?", he asked directly without taking any detours. He already had an idea of the answer she would give him but was scared to hear her confirm it. She stopped eating and lifted her head to look him in the eyes. No matter what he says, she knew what she did was the right thing to do.

Her stare confirmed to Arthur what he already knew. He walked towards her and took the tray off her lap, leaving it levitating in the middle of the room, over Draco. Esmeralda pulled her blanket up to her shoulders.

"Esmeralda! Show me your arm!"

This was the first time she heard him raise his voice. It shocked her at first to see him so mad but again, she repeated to herself that she had no choice. She started to get up, letting the blanket fall on the floor. She kept her head straight, locking her eyes into his.

Her left forearm had some gauze a bandage around it, at the same place where the boy laying on her bed had his. When he saw the bandage, Arthur's face turned redder than his hair but seemed to be more worried than actually angry at her.

"What have you done my child?" he said trying to grab her arm. She rapidly dodged his hand and hid it behind her back.

"I saved him from getting amputated! I saved his life!", she screamed, not caring about who could hear her on the other side of her bedroom door. After they had left her alone with him, she faced the fact that there was only one way to avoid amputating his arm from the elbow down: she had to take some of the own skin and place it where he had barely left. His wound was big and deep, so deep she could almost see the bone. The skin around was extremely damaged and would probably never heal, at least properly. She had to take a quick decision.

Without hesitating, she cut off part of her skin and placed it on his arm. Her grandmother had mentioned that ancient technique to her but she had never used it before nor seen anyone performed it. There was a slight chance she could lose her arm as well but, at this point, she was committed in her head in saving every piece of him. By doing so, and also if she did every step correctly, in a few months there will probably not be any physical evidence of what happened last night. Not on him, neither on her.

"Your father is going to kill me…" Arthur passed a nervous hand through his hair. "Why did you do this without telling me first?!"

She hated hearing him questioning her actions: so far it seemed like she had succeeded in her task so there was no reason for him to scream at her. Also, knowing her father, he would of thrown Draco out and left him to die, something Arthur Weasley would of never done, even to his worst enemy.

"MY FATHER CHOSE TO LEAVE ME HERE! WITH YOUR FAMILY! NOT WITH HIM, NOT WITH HIS FAMILY! The only opinion I care for at this moment is yours so, tell me, WHY DID YOU BRING HIM HERE? TELL ME! WHY DID YOU BRING HIM TO ME?!"

She screamed at him. She just had to let it out. Last night's events and the lack of sleep had taken over her. That plus what was happening at that very moment had her standing on an edge. Nonetheless, despite all the different emotions rushing through her, she wanted to sound clear and make him realize one important thing.

"You brought him here, to me, because you knew I could do this. And that I would do it. You knew that if you had brought him to St. Mungo's they wouldn't had done this much to save him!"

Esmeralda was out of breath. Arthur stayed silent but seemed calmer.

"They would of cut off his arm…That is exactly why we brought him here..." he finally admitted.

...

"You think your father is going to be mad?" Hermione asked Esme while she was painting her toenails, sitting on the bedroom's floor. It's been three days now since they brought Draco in the Burrow and he hadn't waken up yet. The wound was healing at a spectacular speed and this was probably draining the little bit of energy he had left after all the blood he had lost. She had barely left the room, only trusting Hermione on keeping an eye on him when she needed a break. The boys had gone back to work and Molly and Ginny had gone to Dragon's Alley to get the school supplies she needed for her last year at Hogwarts.

"If he is not back before it has completely healed, then he will never find out."

"I don't think any of us will tell, specially Arthur. And if your father does find out and lashes out at you, I am pretty certain Molly will put him back in his place. She loves you so much but she clearly disapproved of your father's decision to leave you here and keep you away of your family. He could of handle the problem with your sisters a thousand different ways better than just leaving you behind…abandoning you." Those were very crude words to use to explain what he did but Hermione was right and there was no other way to explain what he did. She stayed silent for a few seconds, concentrated on applying nail polish on the last toenail. This subject infuriated Hermione more than anyone else and she was never scared to say what she really thought about the whole thing. She put her nail kit away and started to fan her toes with a magazine she found on the nightstand. Out of nowhere, she burst. "For Merlin's sake he is Melkiedes, King of the Gypsies!" she suddenly said, visibly irritated.

Yes, everybody knew he could of manage the situation differently. Plus, he couldn't hide to anybody that Esmeralda, his youngest, was his favourite of all his five children. Nonetheless, she was also an illegitimate child, a baby he had with another gypsy while they were traveling through Spain. He always felt a bit guilty about the consequences of his affair and finally it led to him siding with her sisters against her.

Deep down, she left like he had banished her from his people.

Esmeralda was now sitting on the edge of her bed, next to Draco. Even though the situation hadn't changed in days, she regularly made sure he was stable. She put a hand on the left side of his chest and closed her eyes to better feel and count his heartbeats.

"I think it's the first time I see you touching a boy", Hermione laughed.

"I've touched other boys before!" Esme laughed too. "Remember a month ago, when Ron ate that old… _thing_ in the fridge after George dared him to? He was throwing up everywhere on his way to the bathroom! I put my hand on his stomach and healed him right away."

"That doesn't count! He's like your brother!"

"Gypsies don't make physical contact with the other sex unless it is necessary…like a life threatening situation!" she said putting extra emphasis on the last two words. "Gypsy women only have eyes...and hands...for our spouse".

What was a subject of laughter quickly turned into something more serious. Every gypsy girl looked forward to that moment when it finally time to find a companion and share their lives together, but, sadly, that wouldn't be her case. Even though her father made sure everybody knew she was his daughter and gave her the title of princess of the Gypsies, she was still a bastard, like her sisters always like to remind people, and thus will not be given a husband. No family would even want to marry their son to an child born out of wedlock.

That was part of the reason of her exile. It has been close to two years now she hasn't seen her family and sometimes she wondered if she would one day.

"Everything is normal. He should be waking up in a day or two".

Hermione noticed Esmeralda staring at Draco. In her opinion, he was very handsome. In fact, she was sure he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Knowing he was a Malfoy, he probably had piercing blue eyes, distinctive characteristic of the family. His blond hair had not been combed in days, she could not stop herself from brushing a few locks off his face. Touching him, even so briefly, gave her goosebumps all over her body. For a split second, she had forgotten Hermione was still there with her. She came out of her reverie when she heard her intentionally clearing her throat.

"Sorry. I was just thinking…if I should change his bandage or not…" she lied. "So, are the boys ready for the move?" she quickly thought to ask to change the subject of conversation.

"Pff..You know them, specially Ron. He just threw all his clothes in boxes, without folding them. You know I love Molly but I think she babies her children too much. He will never be a _functional adult_ on his own."

Esmeralda laughed. Harry and Ron had found a flat in London and were moving in the next day. For the moment, Hermione wasn't moving in with them. She had to go to Australia first and find her parents. Then she would have to help them recover the memories she had erased a few months ago. Esmeralda had offered to go with her but she convinced her to stay and take care of Arthur and Molly while all their children were gone.

"You know, he helped me brew a potion that should accelerate the process of memory recovery. He has changed a lot since the war. The Draco I knew from our first years of education would of laugh at me when I went to him for help. Instead, he met with me every week for two months at his mansion and did some extra research on his own time." Esmeralda could clearly hear the tremor in Hermione's voice as she was finishing that sentence. If now she had hope in bringing back her parents to England it was partly because of him.

"So, you will be gone for a few months too?" Esmeralda asked.

"Yes, I think so. I will come back in December to spend the holidays with you all, with or without my parents. With the potion, they might recover their memory in a month or in a year, there's no way to tell."

"Promise you will write to me. I want a letter every week!" Esmeralda loved Hermione's company. Now that Ginny was with Harry, she hardly spent time with them. And when she was with her, she would only complain about the fact she hadn't been given permission to go live with him. On the other hand, Hermione was more mature and did not feel the urge to be with Ron 24/7. In fact, Esmeralda was sure she appreciated the break she had of him when he would go to work: she would spend time with her friends and did not need to look after him.

"Promise! And you, keep an eye on the boys! Make sure they don't starve nor eat too much junk food!"

"I promise I will regularly check on them if they are still alive. Pinky swear." She had learned that muggle expression from Hermione.

The girls heard the entrance door open and Ginny complaining about the fit of the new school shirts her mom had just bought her. They left the bedroom to go see if they could help Molly putting the groceries away in the kitchen. They found Ginny sitting at the dinning table, arms crossed, visibly mad at her mother.

"Thank you girls. It is truly sad to see that your own children won't give a hand to help their aging parents…" Molly said with a exaggerated sigh.

"You only have two bags, mom." Ginny said. She had been in a bad mood the whole summer because her parents were forcing her to return to Hogwarts for her last year while really she wanted to go live with Harry instead and complete her education at home. Nobody in the family, not even her boyfriend, had taken her side and now she was forced to wear the school uniform one last time.

"Did Arthur gave you more information on what happened to Draco?", Hermione asked while putting a pot of water on top of the stove to prepare some tea.

"No. It seems like for the moment all information of what happened at the Malfoy Mansion is confidential and classified. Even the Daily Prophet hasn't broken the news yet. I really don't know how the Ministry has been able to keep this out of the ears and eyes of the public for so long."

"Well, the news hasn't spread yet because you weren't able to find out any details from dad and go around blabbing about it to whoever wants to listen…" Ginny said with a muffled voice but just loud enough for all in the room to hear.

"GINERVA MOLLY WEASLEY! It is enough of that attitude young lady! You will go to school and complete your education! You are too young to live on your own with a boy! You had the whole summer to get used to the idea! Now, go to your room!" Molly had clearly had enough of all that back talking from her youngest. Ginny got up her chair very fast and exited the dinning room with loud steps.

"I don't know what is going on with her. She's such a sweet nature…"

Hermione gave her a hot cup of tea and wrapped her arms around her. "She'll be back in school with her friends and she will forget she wanted to be with Harry. When she'll come back in December, she is going to be fine."

Hermione was handing Esmeralda her cup of tea when they heard Ginny coming rapidly down the stairs.

"Ginny, sweetie! What's wrong?" Molly asked her when she ran inside the kitchen.

"Draco. He's awake!"

* * *

 _First of all, special thanks to bulldoglover01 for leaving the first comment for this story. You have officially broken the ice! :D_

 _I am sure many of you are not only reading one story at a time. I know I am and I rarely remember what happened in the last chapter :s_ _I mean, sometimes I mixed up the plots of the many stories I am reading, specially when a certain time has passed since the last posted chapter. So I thought I would write a brief summary of what happened in the previous chapter to refresh your memory :) I might also bring back some details from older chapters if needed._

 _You got to know Esmeralda a bit more but_ _I hope you don't hate me for this chapter...Yes, Draco is still unconscious... They found him almost dead, remember?! He cannot make a miraculous recovery in just one chapter! lol Now, you have something to look forward to chapter 3!_

 _bye bye!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Draco has been found severely injured outside his house and brought to the Burrow to be taken care of by Esmeralda._

 _Using her special skills and knowledge, she is able to save him but Arthur first strongly disapproved of the method she used, fearing of her father's reaction if he would ever find out what she did for him._

 **CHAPTER 3**

His head felt heavy. His body felt so sore. He knew he must have been asleep for a very long time. But not on his bed. Not in his room. He could feel he was laying on silk bed sheets but could not recognize the decor around him. Only a little bit of sunlight was able to screen through the curtains. He scanned the room and noticed it had a little middle east vibe to it: lots of earthy and golden tones in it. A big mirror was placed against the wall in front of the bed, framed with what could only be pure gold. Next to the bed, on the nightstand, a jewelry box, made of massive gold, was opened and next to it were at least 15 golden bangles, some incrusted with precious stones. The only place he saw so much wealth in only one room was his home and his family's Gringotts vault.

Home. The fire. His mother.

He suddenly had a flashback of receiving the news his father had been found dead in his cell in Azkaban. Then, flames were surrounding him. Smoke was invading his lungs. He was running, looking for his mother. He finally found her in the library but then he could only remember feeling an excruciating pain on his arm. And a green flash of light. That was all.

He tried to sit but couldn't support his own upper weight. He just felt so weak, so dizzy. He tried to look for his wand but rapidly realized he didn't even know where he had left it. He probably dropped it at some point.

While making a last effort to remember any other detail, he was interrupted by a girl opening the door. "Let me make sure he's okay first. I'll let you come in in 10 minutes. He's probably hungry, you know..." she whispered to somebody probably standing behind the door.

That husky voice again. The girl approached him and presses the palm of her hand on his forehead.

"How do you feel?"

"Confused". His throat was sore as well, he could barely raised his voice louder than a whisper "Who are you? Where am I?" He asked her. "You're at the Burrow. Arthur, Harry and Ron brought you here a few days ago. You were in a pretty bad shape." He had no fever so she safely deduced his wound did not get infected and was in deed healing properly. ''Can you feel this?' she asked as she lightly pitched the skin in the middle of his hand. ''Yes'' he replied.

"Can you lift your left arm for me, please?"

He tried but he barely succeeded in putting a space between it and the bed.

"You're still not strong enough to move it. Let's do something more simple: move your fingers."

With great efforts he was able to move every finger of his hands. "They feel a bit numb", he said.

The girl smiled at him, revealing what he thought was a perfect smile. She was the girl he remembered seeing at some point while he was unconscious.

Seeing his fingers move confirmed to Esmeralda the skin graft was a success and his nerves and muscles were healing as well; it was just a matter of time for him to recuperate full mobility of his arm. She took his hand in hers and started to softly massage it. He felt his blood rushing through his body: her skin was just so warm and soft. He heard the clinking of the bangles around her wrist, identical to the ones on the nightstand, indicating he must be in her room.

"You did not tell me who you are. You definitely don't look like a Weasley." She was in deed lacking that fire-red hair characteristic of the family: hers was blonde, with some paler highlights scattered a bit everywhere, and wavy, reaching her waist. He noticed a few freckles under her big brown almond-shaped eyes and also dark circles, indicating she hadn't slept in days, probably taking care of him day and night. Her skin was fair and delicate like porcelain. Her clothes were out of the ordinary: she was wearing a white top that left her shoulders uncovered and a high waisted blue skirt. For a second he thought she might be a gypsy but that was impossible. Gypsies haven't been seen in the country in years now and even if they did, they would not be living inside a house. Even worse, a house full of wizards.

She hadn't yet answered his question, being too busy changing the bandage on his arm. She had taking it off and he glanced at what was under it. His skin looked raw and it actually looked like a piece of flesh has been placed there like to cover something. While she was busy working, he could not not wonder if all this had anything to do with the bandage she had on her arm too, at the same place he had his. That was more than just a coincidence, he thought to himself. He did not ask her about it since she had not answered all of his previous questions.

''You almost died you know.'' she said while wrapping his forearm with a clean bandage. ''Almost lost your arm.'' She used a safety pin to secure the bandage and started to put what was left of the material away. ''I am Esmeralda, by the way.'' Again, she put her hand on top of his and squeezed it a bit, like to give him kind of a handshake.

''What a pretty name. I'm Draco.'' He squeezed his hand around the tip of her fingers.

...

"I feel stupid", Draco said after swallowing a spoonful of soup. He could only manage to sit with the help of Esme and now she was helping him to eat.

"You lost a lot of blood and haven't eaten in days: it is perfectly normal you feel weak", she said while bringing another spoonful of soup to his mouth. Draco opened his mouth and finished what was left in the bowl. He still felt hungry but knew he had to pace himself. Esmeralda was right: he had lost a lot of strength in the few days he was out and it would take him another few to be able to do simple things on his own again.

"I definitely need to eat more than just soup if I want to be able to do things on my own soon. And I de-fi-ni-tely need a shower. I stink!"

"Can you stop being so hard on yourself? Esmeralda got up and left the room to return with a bucket of soapy water and a rag. When Draco saw her come back in, his face turned red and he wished he could jump out of the bed and run far away.

"No! Don't even think about it!? he shouted.

"What?"

"I am not going to let you! I forbid you!" He tried to move but as soon as he tried to use his left arm he just collapsed, agonizing because of the pain his sudden movements caused.

Esmeralda looked at him, amused by how panicked he was. "You forbid me what?", she asked knowing exactly what he was thinking. She grabbed the rag and dunked it in the water.

"You are not giving me a sponge bath! I don't want to!"

"Then stop complaining!" She threw the rag at his face and then took out her wand for a pocket of her skirt. She pointed it at the rag who suddenly came to life and started to scrub Draco's face.

"You really thought I would give you a sponge bath?", she said in a serious tone, barely able to hide her amusement. "Arthur just got back home. He will come to see you after you're - I mean it's done", she said as she picked up the empty bowl of soup left on the night table and left him alone in the room, too weak to fight back the possessed rag, now scrubbing him behind the ears.

She found part of the family in the dinning room, almost ready to eat a last supper together before the boys leave the nest the very next day. Ginny was also leaving for Hogwarts the next morning. She hadn't come down when her mother called the family to the dining room and Hermione had gone upstairs to try to convince her to not skip this last occasion to be all together before most of them leave for a while. Even George had come from Diagon Alley to visit. Ron was already sitting at the table, next to Harry, munching on bread and butter.

''George! You're here!'' Esmeralda ran to him to give him a big hug.

''Of course! I wouldn't miss Ronny's departure from the skirts of his mummy!'' He approached Ron from behind and passed vigorously his hand through his hair, messing it more than it already was. ''When are you going to come visit my shop, Esme? It has been opened for 2 years now and you haven't set a foot inside. In fact, I don't think you have ever been to Diagon Alley!'' he said while still messing with Ron's hair and pretending to not hear his victim's complaints.

''One day, George, I promise. It's just that gypsies don't really associate with wizards.''

''Bloody hell! But you, you live with wizards! And, technically, gypsies are wizards as well! I mean, you have a wand for merlin's sake!'' George never understood why she was so stuck in her ways (it was comprehensible, as he himself never followed any given rules). Even if she had been living with them for quite some time now, she was still afraid to deviate from the path gypsies had taught her her whole life to follow. She was mostly scared of what her sisters would say: they liked to find anything on her that could be used against her and be reprehensible and dishonourable to the family name.

''How's the ferret doing, Esme?'' Ron asked in between two bites. ''Ferret? Why do you call him like that?'' Esmeralda asked.

''Ron! I had a chat with you already and forbid you to call him like that! Specially now that he is under our roof. Poor thing...he lost everything in one night...'' Molly said while a large pot of soup floated across the room to finally land on the table.

''So...the rumours are true?" It seems like George had already spread what he had heard in the streets earlier that day as Ron stopped masticating and Harry seemed to have stopped breathing. "What rumours?" Esmeralda asked Molly.

The matriarch took off her oven mitts and her apron and George pulled a chair for her to sit down. She pulled a tissue out of her sleeve and cleaned the tears that had started to appear at the corners of her eyes.

"Your father is going to tell Draco after supper. They found the body of Narcissa in the rubbles of the mansion".

...

The experience of being totally defenceless against a rag had been awful but Draco really needed to clean up. He hoped that soon someone would suggest to change his sheets: he felt like he would be abusing of the Weasley's hospitality and help if he asked someone to do it. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door. That was odd since Esmeralda just usually barged in without knocking first: it was her room after all.

''Draco, may I come in? It's me, Arthur.''

''Yes'' was all Draco was able to say loud enough for Arthur to hear through the wooden door. ''Ah, you look much better Draco!'' Arthur said as he entered the room. ''I hope you feel better as well. You gave us a good scare when we found you.'' He took a sit on the armchair and leaned back to stare for a few seconds to the ceiling. He reminded him of his dad, sitting on his imposing dark emerald velvet armchair in the main room of the mansion, thinking ahead of how to report events to Voldemort without provoking any sudden burst of rage from him. ''I spoke with my wife and we think it would do you no good if we wait a few more days before telling you...'' Arthur paused to clear his throat, still not sure of how to break the news to the boy.

''It's about my mother, isn't it?'' he said, trying to hold back his tears. What he remembered of that night was vague but he was sure of one thing: his mother was dead. Despite his efforts, a couple of tears fell down his cheeks.

''I am so sorry, son. They found her under the rubbles. It seemed like your mother died asphyxiated by the smoke. There was nothing that could be done to bring her back.''

That's how she died. What a relief it was for Draco.

''Listen, you can stay with us as long as you want. You have done so much for our family, we owe you so much. We are here for you, Draco.'' Arthur leaned forward and put a hand over his. ''There's an investigation being conducted by the Ministry and they will come here to question you. Kingsley Shacklebolt knows you are here and how severely injured you were. I think they will give you a few days to recuperate before coming to meet you.''

Draco remained silent. Of course they would come: he was probably a suspect in the whole thing. ''I will try to answer their questions as accurately as I can but sadly I do not think I will be of a great help in the investigation...Until now, I thought I killed her. I remember a green flash...I thought I had ended her life...''

''They found your wand and your mom's in the rubbles. They are currently trying to extract every single piece of information from them, trying to figure out which were the last spells thrown from them. Until now, they haven't found anything incriminating against you, rest assure.''

In a certain sense, Draco wanted the Ministry to come right away to interrogate him so he could ask his own questions to them. Arthur had gotten up and was walking towards the door, feeling Draco needed time to process what he had just told him. ''Do you know what happened to me? To my arm?'' he asked him before he opened the door.

''We don't know what exactly happened to it, we found you like that. It seemed like somebody tried to rip the dark mark off your arm but by doing so, he or she almost killed you. Esmeralda saved you. She refused to amputate you and risked her own life to heal you.''

''What did she do?''

''We don't really know but that is why we brought you here instead of St. Mungo's. She's a gypsy you see and their knowledge in healing magic is far more extended than ours.''

Draco had heard of the reputation Gypsies had as healers but also of their refusal to share their knowledge with the wizards, as it was intended only to heal their own people. A few wizards, mostly purebloods, had spent extravagant sums of money to receive treatment from them. He remembered reading in the Malfoy family history book that the first Malfoy to be born in England after they had immigrated from France had apparently been delivered by a gypsy midwife.

''Esmeralda had been living with us for a while now. She tried to save Fred's life but it was too late...'' Arthur said while letting go of the door knob to awkwardly scratch his arm. He then stopped to look one last time at Draco. ''I am very happy it wasn't too late for you''.

...

George had changed the mood in the room during supper by telling his family how one of his employees at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes tried to steal one of his secret prototypes before he had the chance of patenting it and ended up with an extra ear and eye on his forehead. Everybody laughed at how George imitated the distraught face of the thief, everybody except Molly of course.

''Well Molly my love, Arthur said as he pushed his chair back, everything was delicious, as always but I think I will skip dessert for this time. I have to go talk to Draco. So far, I have no idea how I am going to tell him the news...''

''If you want, I can come with you'' Harry proposed.

''It's ok...'' he just said leaving the room.

''Ok girls, help me clean up here. Boys, not to fast!'' Molly had just time to grab Ron by the collar before he disappeared in his room with Harry. ''I want to see all your things packed and ready to go. And sweep your room!'' She handed them a broom and let them go.

Esmeralda brought the dirty plates to Hermione who had already started to place them in the dish washer, the latest muggle appliance Arthur had installed in the Burrow. At first, his wife did not want any of his new discoveries installed in her kitchen but after giving it a chance she secretly fell in love with it.

''I'm going to go see how the boys are doing'' Hermione told Esmeralda after closing the dish washer door. ''You're coming?''

''I think I'm going to stay in the living room. I'm a bit tired...''

''By the way, where are you going to sleep tonight? You can't keep sleeping in the armchair in your room, now that Draco woke up.'' Ginny asked before starting to go up the stairs after Hermione.

''She will sleep with you and Ginny!'' Molly said while still being in the kitchen.

''I'll go then prepare the bed!'' Hermione said running upstairs while Esmeralda stayed in the living room, getting closer to the fire that had been lit before. August nights had been rainy and a bit chilly this year and it had been announced they would have a cold and humid autumn this year. Soon Esmeralda would have to trade her long dresses and skirts for jeans and sweaters. Usually, with her people she would leave and spend the cold seasons in the south of Spain and Morocco but now after two years she was getting used to cover up a bit more during those few months.

''Do you need something?'' George asked before sitting next to her on the couch. He had already taken a blanket laying on another couch and put it around her shoulders. ''Thank you'' she said. ''How are things going with Angelina?''

''It's been a few weeks only but all good so far'' he replied. ''I love her cooking...'' he leaned over her and whispered: ''...I think it's better than mum's''. He raised his eyes to make sure his mother did not hear him. Esmeralda smiled and leaned back on the couch, fixing the logs slowly burning and turning to ashes. ''I am happy for you, George. Your business is doing good and now you have a lady in your life.'' she said.

He did not say anything for a moment, which was odd considering George was always ready to say something. ''Well, the business is more of a passion turned into a way of making a living out of it. As for the lady, well, I could of had her beside me a bit earlier in my life".

Esmeralda turned red hearing him say that last sentence and felt like her heart dropped on the floor. George saw he had put her in an embarrassing spot. "I'm sorry, I brought it up again, didn't I? Don't feel bad, it's in the past."

"I wish I had the same feelings for you when you told me you loved me...I hate how I made you feel after…specially now that your brother is gone…" she said nervously touching her hair.

"It's okay, really. And now that I think about it, I realized I am way out of your league" he simply said with a smirk. They started laughing when they heard a door upstairs closing and steps coming down the stairs.

"Well, it's done. He already had a hint about what happened to his mother" Arthur said while taking a seat on his armchair in the living room.

"I think I'm going to go to bed. Good night." Esmeralda sensed he wanted to speak with his son so she preferred to give them some privacy.

As she was going up the stairs, Esmeralda could hear the voices of Ginny and Harry coming from the room he shared with Ron. A bit further, Hermione was instructing Ron on how to fold his clothes properly so they would not be any wrinkles on them. She was debating if she should go to her room first to go get what she needed for the night.

As she approached her door, she hesitated in opening it. She could definitely hear Draco crying. She felt uncomfortable going in: she did not know what she should say to him. Maybe she could pretend she just wanted to check on him one last time...

"Draco, can I come in?" she asked softly but loud enough for him to hear her through the door. At first, there was no answer. She waited a bit more...still nothing. "I just want to know if you need anything before we all go to bed." Still nothing.

In a certain way, she was relieved he wanted to be alone. She was about to leave when he finally answered back. "Yes, come in".

She first saw the bucket with the rag she charmed earlier to clean him. She felt bad for using that method on him but at that time she had no idea he would be receiving such terrible news. He was still laying on his back but his head was turned the other way, hiding his tears from her. If only there was something she could do to make him feel better...

"If you want, I can change the bed sheets" she suggested rapidly after seeing the blood stains on the ones he was laying on. She did not expect an answer right away, she just asked him the first thing that came to her mind, just to break the silence in the room.

"That would be great, thank you." he said as he turned his head to face her. Tears had reddened his eyes but did not masked the beauty of his grey eyes.

She smiled and went to grab the bed linen on the top self of her closet.

* * *

 _Hello! Oh my gaaaaddd, I am so sorry! First I could not upload the next chapter in the doc manager, for some reason the website was crashing every time I tried to save! Then when finally I was able to, I realized I did not like the ending of this chapter, so I changed it! And then again! I could not upload the chapter in doc manager! It would just copy the whole thing without any spacing between paragraphs! It was soo frustrating but finally I did it!_

 _Special thanks to everybody that leaves a comment :) And also for those who follow or/and favorite this story! I just love receiving notifications telling me one more person wants to know what is going to happen next!_

 _I haven't written the next chapter yet :s I hope it will be ready for next week..._


	4. Chapter 4

_Draco has finally awaken but he is still very weak._ _Not remembering what had happened, Arthur had to bring the bad news to him: his mother has been found dead under the ruins of the Manor._

 **CHAPTER 4**

"Girls! Wake up! Here Ginny, you got an owl early this morning. George is ready to bring your trunk downstairs so hurry up!" The voice of Molly Weasley woke up the three girls right away. It was 8 o'clock in the morning and they would all head up to King's Cross Station to drop off Ginny first before helping the boys move to their new flat in London. After stretching, Hermione was the first one to get up and went to sit on Ginny's bed.

"Ginny, wake up, you got a letter from Megan." Hermione had picked up the letter Molly left on top of her dresser, hoping it contained news that would change Ginny's mind about wanting to be homeschool. She had come back to the bedroom late last night after desperately trying to convince Harry one last time to side with her against her parents. Hermione and Esmeralda were already in bed when she burst in the room like a fury and went straight to bed, not glancing at them once.

Ginny kept the bed sheets over her head, pretending she hadn't heard her mother nor Hermione. Tired of her attitude, the brown-hair girl opened the envelope containing the letter and read it out loud.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _I hope you had a wonderful summer. I was saddened to read in your last letter you were thinking on not finishing your education at Hogwarts but I overheard something yesterday that might make you change your mind._

 _My brothers were talking and apparently your name came up as a candidate to be the new captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team!_

 _I am going to keep my fingers crossed for you!_

 _If your decision is final and you are staying home, try to come to King's Cross anyways, so I can give you a hug before leaving._

XOXO Megan

As soon as she heard the news of the gossip going around, Ginny jumped out of her bed and snatched the paper off Hermione's hands. She read it again, making sure her friend did not invent something to get her to go to school.

"Oh my... MOM!" She called her mother as she jumped out of her bed and ran out of the room. The girls could hear her running down the hallway and asking her mom where she had stored her Quidditch equipment.

"I knew it would only take that for her to change her mind", Hermione said with a triumphant expression on her face as she started to make her bed.

"You had something to do with this?" Esmeralda asked in disbelief. Hermione had never been interested in the sport so how did she influence the decision?

"McGonagall owed me one", she winked at her and that's the only thing Esmeralda got for an answer.

Molly reappeared in the room, holding shoulder and knee pads in her arms. "I swear, this girl is driving me crazy. Thank Merlin she's my last one! So, plan for the day: we drop Ginny to King's Cross Station and then help the boys settle in their flat." She was about to run out of the room as fast as she appeared in when Esmeralda jumped out of her bed as well.

"Molly, can I stay here instead?"

"You don't want to come with us dear?" She asked.

"It's not that", the young girl replied looking at the floor, "I would like to keep an eye on Draco and make sure he's okay." She felt a bit dizzy asking her for that, her heart was pounding so fast after she got that last sentence out of her mouth. She blamed it on the fact that she had never been left alone in a house with a boy that wasn't a member of her adoptive family.

"Oh! I forgot about him! I've been up for hours running around and didn't even think on checking on him! The poor boy must be starving!" Esmeralda promised she would take care of him and watched as Molly left the room. She suddenly felt a shiver down her neck and turned around to see Hermione was staring at her with a big smirk on her face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She was already a bit annoyed knowing what her friend had in mind. "Stop it Hermione!", she said grabbing a pillow and throwing it towards her.

"You are lucky he's injured, it's the perfect excuse to stay here...alone with him." Esmeralda tried to not react at what she just said, showing her it did not bother her what she thought of the situation. "Oh bloody hell Esme! Can you, for once, admit that you find a guy attractive?! I am not like your family! I won't banish you!". Esmeralda remained silent and Hermione knew she had crossed a line with her joke. "I'm sorry, I know it's not a laughing matter for you. It's just that the other day I caught you staring at him, and more than just once."

"He's cute", Esmeralda simply admitted. Hermione smiled and turned around to grab a pair of jeans that was laying on the floor. "He's bloody gorgeous! And you never know, he might fall for his sexy nurse one day..."

"Stop!" And another pillow flew across the room.

...

Seven trunks had been blocking the main entrance door before Arthur shrunk them to the size of a penny and put them in one of his pockets. Ginny was already waiting for everybody at the door, thrilled to be on her way to Hogwarts. Harry and Ron approached Esmeralda and the boy with the scar was the first to hug her goodbyes.

"You'll come visit often right?" She asked as she switched to give a hug to Ron.

"Of course! Or else we'll go hungry since neither of us knows how to cook!" Ron said. "Besides, we don't want to leave you alone here with the snake", he added with a wink.

"The snake?", Esmeralda asked, not sure what he meant by "the snake".

"Ron! Don't transfer the prejudices you have against him to her! Esme, he just said that because Draco is a Slytherin at Hogwarts and their house animal is a snake, that's all".

"Don't let him bite youuuu...", George quickly whispered to her as he was leaving. Despite the fact that more than half of the household would not be coming back later, Esmeralda was tired of hearing all their stupid jokes and happy to see them leave. Where they making fun of her? of him? of them both?

"Ok kids, ready to go?" Molly arrived and started to push everybody out of the house. "Esme, take good care of him, we will be back for supper".

"Yes, Esme, make sure he receives all the love and attention he needs...specially the love part" Hermione said with a wink. "Oh my lord, Hermione, stop it..." she said in between her teeth as she realized Harry had heard what she said. She waved them goodbye and they all apparated at the same time. She locked the door and went directly to the kitchen, where she had Draco's breakfast ready. Molly had prepared a tray of pastries, homemade bread and spreads, way more food than what a normal person could eat in one sitting. Taking her wand, she first levitated the tray off the table but then, with another flick, brought it back down.

"Maybe he would like to eat here...", the thought had crossed her mind as she imagined he must be tired of staying in her room, laying in bed. By now, he should had gained back most of his strength, enough at least to walk down the stairs to the kitchen.

She went up the stairs slowly, making sure he would hear her come up.

...

Draco thought he had been left alone in the house. He had awaken with the noise of trunks hitting the floor as they were going down the staircase and the shouting of the youngest Weasley. And then, the entrance door closing. The family must have left for King's Cross Station.

"Did they forget I was here?" he could not help wondering. He did not mind going back to sleep, since he had barely closed his eyes during the night. Memories of countless summer days spent with his mother, walking down the path in the forrest adjacent of the Manor, had tormented him all night. He would see her smiling and pointing at flowers and animals crossing their path, hear her melodic voice humming the lullabies she used to sing to him when he was a baby. Suddenly, she would stop singing to stare at him with agonizing eyes and let out a painful scream, a scream that just paralyzed him with fear. He then would wake up drenched in sweat. He would of liked to go back to sleep but he was starving. Maybe he could sneak out of his room and…

"Knock, knock! May I come in? It's Esmeralda"

He did not hear her come up. She opened the door and greeted him with a good morning and a smile. For a split second, he had a flash back of his mother, greeting him the same way in the morning.

"I have breakfast ready downstairs. I thought you would like to get out of bed, get some exercice, if you are able of course."

"Wouldn't be a bad idea, I cannot stay laying down anymore", he said as he kicked the sheets off his legs, uncovering his body. She could not stop herself from blushing after seeing his almost-naked body. He did not seem to mind he was only wearing a pair of boxers in front of a girl.

"I think Ron left some clothes behind…", he heard her say before she quickly disappeared. She came back with a pair of grey fleece pants and a white t-shirt. She put down the clothes on the bed and took a few steps back. She was going to run out of the room when she realized he only had one functioning hand for the moment, his left arm still incapacitated by the injury. Before he even asked for her help, she came back next to him and put on the pair of pants first. She could not bring them all the way up since he was still sitting on the bed. The waist band was around his thighs as she decided to put the t-shirt on him first and then help him get up.

"Ok, now put yours hands on my hips", she told him.

"What?", Draco asked, not sure he heard correctly what she had asked him to do.

"Put YOUR hands on MY hips", she repeated as she grabbed his right hand and put it on her body like she had asked him. She did the same with the left one, but more carefully.

"Now, try to stand up. I will help you". She bended toward him and put her arms under his around his body. He got a whiff of her perfume as his face almost touched her collarbone. As she bended down, her shirt was giving him a view of what was under it but for some reason he stopped himself from looking. With mostly the help of his right hand, he was able to get up as she pulled him up at the same time.

He was much taller than what she thought he was. As he got up, their bodies bumped into each other and she felt how hard his muscles were. He still had his hands on her hips and, frankly, he did not want to take them off her.

"I have, hum, breakfast ready for you in the kitchen". She did not know what else to say.

"You already told me that", he said almost in a whisper. He wished he could have a glance at those hypnotic almond-shaped eyes of hers.

Esmeralda did not want to raise her head, too afraid she would get lost in his stormy grey eyes. She knew she would. "It's getting cold". She turned around, freeing herself from his hold. She started walking ahead and Draco tried to follow her pace as much as his weaken legs could. When he got in the kitchen, she had already poured him a cup of tea and with a flick of her wand pulled a chair for him at the head of the table.

"Usually I read the Daily Prophet in the morning" is the only thing he found to say to break the tension that seemed to be between them. He eyed it from across the other side of the table but almost instantly Esmeralda levitated the newspapers and threw it in the oven, closing the door behind it. "No Daily Prophet today" is the only thing she said but her actions just said a lot more: they most have written something about him, about his mother or about the whole incident and she didn't want him to read it.

"Fine, then you'll have to keep me company while I eat". He pulled the chair next to him with his foot and with his hand invited her to take a seat. She put a face of "I have a million things to do" but finally she caved in, pouring a cup of tea for herself before sitting next to him.

"Soooo...Ginger is off to Hogwarts, right?", he asked. He felt like he would be the one making the effort to not let the conversation die. She obviously wanted to leave the kitchen while he was having breakfast and now she was trying to drink her tea as fast as she could but couldn't, the water still almost at boiling temperature.

"If you are referring to Ginny, then yes she is. And Harry and Ron are moving to their own place".

"Mmm...maybe tonight I can ask to sleep in their old room, so you can have yours back, you know?" She simply nodded; in reality, she would be happy if she could have her room back, specially her bed. "Speaking of bedroom", Draco said between two bites of banana bread, "why do you have a room here? I mean, why are you here? You're a gypsy, right? Aren't you supposed to be travelling, living in tents, with other gypsies?" He had to ask. He was grateful she had been there to save his life but it is pretty unusual to see a gypsy living amongst wizards, specially such a young woman.

That was a question she did not want to answer. He didn't need to know the reasons why she wasn't with her family. It would just revive painful memories, even though people always sided with her after hearing all the details. They just did not understand that in her world things don't work the same. As she was about to tell him that it was none of his business, they heard a knock on the door. Draco saw in her eyes she wasn't expecting any visitors. She grabbed her wand and left the kitchen to go answer the door.

"Yes?", she said as she barely opened the heavy wooden door, just enough to have a peak of who was outside.

Draco was swallowing the last bite of his breakfast as she came back in the kitchen. "Your friends are here", she announced. He lifted his head and saw one familiar face poking through the door frame.

"Draco! How's it going, man?!", Theodore Nott said as he slapped a handshake to the convalescing man.

"Theo, Blaise! How did you know I was here?", he asked as he gave Blaise Zambini a handshake as well. "We went to King's Cross, figuring we would find Potter there. Since he's an Auror, we figured he must had an idea of where you were. We went to St. Mungo's first but after being constantly refused access to any information, we bribed a nurse and she told us you weren't hospitalized there", Blaise explained.

"You should of seen him Draco! Blaise was screaming at the staff over there, demanding information about you. Can you imagine it?! Blaise? Screaming?!" Theo added with a laugh. By his tone of voice and way of speaking, Esmeralda deduced it must have been pretty unusual in deed to hear the tallest of the two raising his voice. The other friend, with the black hair and green eyes, was a bit more energetic and less reserved.

"The Zambini Roar is pretty uncommon, I have to agree", Draco noted with a smile at his friends.

"Do you want to go in the living room? I think you all will be much more comfortable in there to talk." Esmeralda suggested as she got closer to Draco to help him get up of his chair. He felt slightly embarrassed appearing so weak in front of his friends but they did not seem to mind. But he remembered that this very same morning she ignored the fact he needed help going down the stairs; now, to walk a few steps into the living room, he had an arm around her.

"I'll bring some tea" she said as she placed a pillow behind him on the couch.

"Can I have a shot of espresso, if you don't mind?" Blaise asked. "I'll be back", she just said. Theo had been silent this whole time, something both friends knew was quite unusual. But as soon as Esmeralda left to go back in the kitchen, he opened his mouth.

"I didn't know the Weasleys kept a gypsy in here! Oh Merlin, I wish I could have a piece of that!", he said as he threw himself on the couch. "Unless you already had, mate". He winked at Draco.

"I just woke up yesterday and, as you can see, I can barely walk on my own. I think I'll be off duty for quite a while",

"Well then, if you don't mind, I'll try to get under her skirts. They think those long skirts help keeping men away but for me...I can't help imagining lifting all those layers of fabric and...mmm..."

"That's enough, Theo. Can't you see it's bothering Draco? We came here to see him and give him moral support. Not to check on the girl healing him." Blaise snapped. Draco stayed silent and turned his head toward the fireplace. Usually, between them they would constantly talk like that but this time...this time it was different. "It's okay Blaise, for now I rather not think about what happened. And T, don't talk about her like that: she saved my life. I owe her. Even if it means saving her from your perverted mind!" He punched him on the elbow.

"Hey!" Theo seemed still lost in his thoughts despite what Draco had just said about Esmeralda. Speaking of which, she entered the room carrying a tray. She served a cup of tea to Theo and Draco and handed a little cup of espresso to Blaise.

"You did not bring a cup for yourself?" Theo asked.

"I have a lot to do. I'll come back later." They all watched her leave, and Draco had to agree with Theo this time: that long skirt she was wearing was actually very enticing.

"You two, stop staring at her like that. Specially you, Draco." Blaise said with a reprimanding tone. "Did you notice her left hand?", he added. Both boys looked at him, not knowing what he was talking about.

"She has a black gold ring around her left ring finger. Black gold is cursed gold for gypsies. Plus, there has to be a reason why she is living here and not with her clan. Just be careful around her". He finished his shot and got up to leave his cup on the tray.

Draco had never noticed the ring on her finger, maybe because the bangles around her wrist were more eye-catching. Also, he had technically met her just the day before. "But she saved my life. She even risked her own so I would not need to have my arm amputated." Draco did not understand why he had to be careful around her. She obviously did not want to harm him.

Blaise went back to sit on the armchair across the coffee table. He needed to be more specific: "Be careful with your feelings towards her, man". Blaise was wise, more mature than his friends and Draco knew he wasn't saying this to mock him. Theo knew that too. When Blaise had that tone in his voice, he usually paid more attention to his words. "You...you can have her, Drake. She's all yours".

* * *

 _Hello to all! I hope you didn't think I gave up on the story :( I had a pretty busy month and then I left for a little vacation :)_

 _Thank you to all the new followers and the reviews! From the bottom of my heart!_

 _I'm sorry for what happened to Narcissa but I hope you like where this story is going. I promise you will get more info on what happened soon!_

 _See you guys soon!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Esmeralda stayed home with Draco while everybody else went to help Harry and Ron move to their new apartment._

 _Blaise Zambini and Theodore Nott came to pay a visit to Draco._

 **CHAPTER 5**

"Yes?"

"Oh, hello. Is this the Weasley residence?"

"Yes"

"Ah, good! Told you Blaise this was their house! My name is Theodore Nott and he's the terribly handsome Blaise Zambini. We are Draco's friends and Harry Potter told us he was staying here."

"We came to see how he is doing. Potter told us he was out of danger but after reading the Daily Prophet this morning..." Blaise could not finish his sentence, being suddenly interrupted by the girl who opened them the door.

"He doesn't know yet. I did not let him read the paper today. He just woke up yesterday and learned about his mother's death, nothing more. I think we should wait until all details are confirmed before telling him."

"We won't mention it to him then." Theodore said and Esmeralda could swear she saw him giving her a discreet wink.

She had left them with Draco and gone upstairs. She could not be more happy to have her bedroom back. She loved to sleep with the girls once in a while but after several nights sleeping only a few hours crumpled up in an armchair, she couldn't wait to lay down on her bed. She jumped on the mattress and hugged a pillow. She closed her eyes and fought back the strong desire to take an early afternoon nap: she had a few chores to do before starting to prepare supper for later that night. With every breath she took she inhaled the scent of the pillowcase. It smelled a bit different than usual, but the subtle scent was very pleasant and soothing.

She was not going to dupe herself: she was aware he was the reason why it smelled like that and part of her felt horrible for not letting go of the pillow where Draco rested his head all night.

 _"Oh Esmeralda...you are such a whore.."_

For a split second she could swear she saw Selina, her older sister standing at the door, arms crossed, staring with that judgemental look she only had for her. They were so far away but still the image of her sisters kept haunting her. All these years being oppressed by them, verbally and physically, had taken a toll on her, even though she had not seen them in almost two years. Since she had been left here to live with the Weasley family, she had the feeling she would never be allowed to come back live with her people, at least not until her sisters leave this world. Nonetheless, she could not depart of the culture she had been raised in.

She got off her bed and opened the door of her closet. She kneeled down and this time opened a large box labeled WINTER in big red letters. Inside there were five handmade sweaters (all gifts from Molly) and more warm clothing items for the cool season that was approaching. Esmeralda had love/hate feelings towards that box. Wearing those clothes would make feel more separated from her roots but at the same time make her blend more with her adoptive family. After switching her wardrobe from summer to winter, she picked up a pair of jeans that used to belong to Hermione and a fleece shirt and changed. It always felt a bit odd to wear pants instead of a skirt but secretly she liked the way she looked in them.

 _"Oh, look everybody, Her Majesty The Village Slut!"_

Again, she could not help it. She grabbed the laundry basket and threw the bed sheets in it. Then, a pillowcase. When she was about to do the same to the second one, she paused. She was holding the pillow in her hands, staring at it. Finally, in one movement, she removed the pillowcase and ended it up throwing it in the basket as well.

"Ah man, I am telling you, the world almost stopped when we started to hear the first rumours. Pansy got even engaged when she first heard that you had perished in the fire!"

"Wait, what?!" Draco could not believe what Theo had just told him. "How her getting engaged has anything to do with me? And to who?!"

"She thought you were dead so she immediately went over Rodrick Selwyn's house and "he" proposed, if you want to believe that version of the story. She really did not waste any time", Blaise replied. "I think she's clearly over you, mate".

"Did she at least shed a tear when she heard I was dead?!", Draco could not stopped laughing. He had an on-and-off relationship with Pansy since their fourth year of school but never really considered her as "wife material". Frankly, he had never ever been in love with her. She wasn't the prettiest girl he had been with and surely not the most interesting one; she just happened to be there, that's all. Of course she was not with him only for the pleasure of his company: she obviously wanted to be known as _Mrs. Draco Malfoy_ someday.

"Anyways, it's a good thing, no? She's out of your way. Even when she hears that you came back from the dead she won't be able to back out of her engagement... Your mother never liked -". Theodore suddenly stopped talking, realizing too late his mistake. _He doesn't know yet._ That was what the gypsy said when she answered the door. He felt the burning look Blaise was giving him. Again, he had spoken without thinking.

"Blaise, don't worry, I know she's gone..." Draco's voice sounded calm but was not louder than a whisper. It felt good to say it out loud to somebody else, he had to start getting use to it. Plus, they were his closest friends and maybe the only ones he could speak to about it...but now was not the time.

"We are sorry for the loss of your parents. I...I wish we could do something to...", Blaise said while Theodore nodded his head in agreement. "It took the whole magical community by surprise. A lot of people were shocked and saddened by the news."

 _A lot of people?_ Draco had trouble to imagine people had forgotten so easily his family's past. The Malfoy name has always inspired the highest respect but it was a respect gained by generations of vile people whose actions were nothing close to honourable.

"The papers only mentioned your charity work and how you and your mother helped change the reputation your family had. Let's just say the articles did not come from the quill of Rita Skeeter, that I can assure you. I think the Minister of Magic had something to do with that", Theo added. It was a relief to hear that his mother would not be remember as the wife and mother of Death Eaters but as a generous and loving woman. His Christmas memories were about him and Narcissa visiting impoverished families and bringing them pastries and gifts for their children. With the return of Voldemort, they had stopped to do it, as nobody wanted to welcome them in their homes anymore. It was nice to know the community remembered these special moments and not the negative ones.

"Was that article in today's edition of the Daily Prophet? I would of liked to read it but Esmeralda took it away from me", Draco laughed. His friends did not. They kept their eyes staring at their hands and their mouths shot.

"I think we should go", Blaise said as he got up his seat. "If you need anything from us, you know we are here for you", he told Draco, still avoiding eye contact with him. Theo stood up as well and gave a him a pat on the back; his hand was icy cold, so cold it gave Draco goosebumps all along his back. Something was not right but clearly his friends did not want to say anything.

Esmeralda had come down to the main floor when she heard steps going towards the entrance. She sprinted to where the noise was coming from to see Draco's two friends closing the door behind them.

"Draco, are you still in the living room?"

No answer. As she entered the room, she saw he was still sitting where she had left him, holding his injured arm.

"Are you okay? Is it hurting you?", she asked, a bit worried. The wound should not be bothering him by now. His face had turned paler than what it was already. He seemed like he had not acknowledged her presence, lost in his thoughts. She approached him on tip-toes, making sure not to startle him. Not in a million years she would imagine doing what she did next: she sat next to him and took his hands in hers. They were so hot she started to fear he really wasn't healing well and he had gotten an infection or was suffering a late negative reaction to the skin graft. She was about to remove the bandage on his arm to have a closer look when finally he moved, only to stop her from doing so.

"Can you bring me the newspapers?", he asked.

Did his friends say something? Specially after she told them not to? "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Just bring it to me. Whatever is written in there, I want it."

 _"Your mother died alone and in agony. That's what she got for being an adulterer."_

These words resonated in her head as she walked to the kitchen to get the newspapers. That was what her sister Cheyenne told her one day when she was eight. That was almost all she knew about her mother's death. She hated the fact that Draco would find out about his almost the same way.

It was printed in big bold black letters above a picture taken of his parents at a Ministry Gala a few years ago. His father, with his long silver blond hair and piercing blue eyes, was holding his mother's arm. She had her hair loose for that occasion and he remembered her long dress being a dark emerald green, his favourite colour. He stared for a few seconds at the picture, trying to avoid reading what the headline said. He finally looked up and read:

 **LUCIUS AND NARCISSA MALFOY'S DEATHS RULED AS SUICIDES.**

 **Draco Malfoy still missing**

He felt like his head was spinning. He closed his eyes, incapable of reading the article printed on the front page. "No..." was the only thing he would say and repeat over and over. How did this happened? Why did they do that? Everything was going so well, people were slowly approaching them again. His father had a few years to spend in Azkaban but after everything would of came back to normal. He would of found a wife and gave them grandchildren to love. They could of grown older and retired in the South of France like they had planned to...Instead, they chose to share a grave together but only fifty years too early. It had never crossed his mind his parents thought of this exit gate to escape their problems...

''Did you read it?", he asked, breaking the silence that had invaded the room. Since she handed him the Daily Prophet, she had not moved and stayed standing straight in front of him, like paralysed. She did not know what to do. She could not just leave him alone but at the same time felt uncomfortable taking a seat and waiting for...what? Crying? Shouting? He was still a stranger to her and thus she had no idea how he would react to the news.

"I did not", she mumbled, "Arthur said nothing has been confirmed yet... Don't pay attention to it, it is probably some rubbish gossip written by Rita Skeeter. The article is anonymous."

Of course. Any reporter would be thrilled to be the first one to inform the wizard community of the tragic end of one of their most powerful couple but if, on the contrary, the news were in fact just a bunch of gossip, it could destroy the credibility and reputation of the most trustful journalist. Something that miss Rita Skeeter was not.

More than being sad, Draco was overtaken by anger. In one sudden move, he threw the paper in the fire but quickly regretted his outburst. He had done it with his left hand and the sudden movement had provoked a pinch of pain racing all along his arm. Noticing right away, Esmeralda finally took a seat next to him and grabbed his arm. The skin around the bandage had redden but nothing more than that. He had probably stretched the skin under it and it still had not completely healed.

"Careful, or else I'll have to "re-stitch" it and trust me, you are lucky you were unconscious the first time."

An awkward silence followed, Esmeralda remaining next to him. This time, he was clearly fighting back the tears pearling at the corner of his eyes. If he was going to cry, she would start crying as well, that was something she could do nothing about it. Thankfully, a ringing sound broke the silence and Draco noticed an object flashing across the room on a table. "What is that?", he asked.

"It's a telephone. Muggles...and Arthur use it to communicate. I'll go answer it." She did not picked up the one in the living room but instead went to the kitchen.

"HELLO? ESMERALDA? IT'S ME ARTHUR. CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Yes, I hear you", she replied, making sure she wasn't holding the the phone handset too close to her ear, as he usually screamed into the telephone when using it.

"HAHA, I JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS THING WORK! THESE MUGGLES! THEY ARE PURE GENIUSES! I WAS JUST CALLING YOU TO LET YOU KNOW WE WILL HAVE SUPPER HERE IN LONDON. THERE'S A LITTLE RESTAURANT RIGHT UNDER THE BOYS' FLAT AND WE WANT TO TRY IT. YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US IF YOU WANT. HOW'S IT GOING BY THE WAY?"

"Not so good...Draco found out about what the Daily Prophet printed this morning..."

"Mmm...I had a conversation with Kingsley yesterday and he said he would like to pay a visit to Draco...maybe he should actually go today and tell him once and for all..."

"So it's true then?"

"I don't know, Esme...But by now he must know for sure what happened. I'll contact him and ask him to pass by soon. You should not deal with all this alone."

"Alright, thank you"

As she turned around after hanging out the phone, she had a glimpse at the glass cabinet at the other end of room. There were a few bottles of alcohol and liqueur, most of them still full. The Weasley were not people you would qualify as drinkers but they would enjoy once in a while a little digestif after supper. Most of the bottles they had were of cognac but, all the way in the back was a _Baron Quilldore_ , a whiskey the patriarch bought to drink with Bill the night before his wedding to Fleur.

Until the moment she came back to the living room, Draco had not noticed she had changed and now looked like a complete normal girl. She had tied up her hair in a high ponytail and looked more to be the daughter of a farmer than of a gypsy man, a change he was sure Theo would of not minded. Following her were two glasses filled with two fingers of an amber colored liquid, one of which came directly floating towards him. She had grabbed the second one before sitting on the armchair that Blaise had occupied half-a-hour ago. He looked at the glass he had now in his hand and by the color only he knew it was a good one. He lifted the glass to his nose and after catching a whiff of the aroma, a small smirk lit up his face. " _Baron Quilldore, Irish Castle Reserve, 80 years old_ " he simply said before taking a sip.

"How did you know?!" Esmeralda was truly impressed. He could not have seen her pouring the drinks from where he was sitting.

"I love whiskey. Not only the drinking part but also the process of making it is...fascinating." He said before eyeing the glass she had in her hand. "You can drink alcohol?"

"I'm of age, if you haven't noticed."

Oh that he had noticed. "That is not what I meant. I thought gypsy women were not allowed to have alcohol."

"Don't believe everything you hear about us. Like I did not believe everything they said about you when you came here..." she said with a smirk.

Draco had no time to answer back as they both noticed the flames in the fireplace turned to green. Almost immediately, a dark-skin man emerged from the fire and took a few steps inside the house.

"Hello Esmeralda. Good to see you again." The man turned around and stretched out his hand to Draco. "I am very happy to see you are doing good as well, Draco. I have to say I was very angry at Arthur when he told me he brought you here instead of St. Mungo's but I have now to admit I was wrong. She obviously did a better job at taking care of you." Esmeralda took another sip of her drink, hoping none of them noticed her blushing cheeks. She hated receiving compliments, as she never knew what to say.

"So, Draco, you surely know the motive of my visit, specially after whatever you read in the Daily Prophet this morning. I promise I will have the leak investigated and found the source as well as who wrote the article. It is utterly unacceptable."

Draco simply nodded his head as a sign of gratitude. On the opposite of his father, Draco always supported Kingsley Shacklebolt's nomination as head of the Ministry of Magic and knew he would do whatever in his power to keep his promise.

"Esmeralda, I have sensitive information to deliver to Draco so maybe he would appreciate if we could have some privacy..." She completely understood his request and was ready to give up her seat to him when Draco interrupted her. "No, you can stay, I don't mind..."

"Oh...ok...but you take my place if you want. I'll sit on the couch." Even though she sat on the other end, Draco was happy she got closer to him but did not let it show: it was not the time for thinking about things like this.

* * *

 _I am sorry but the conversation with Kingsley will have to wait for next chapter! Or else this one would be way too long! (I think...) I hope you like the story until now, don't be shy to leave a comment to let me know! Also, like always, a big thank you to the new followers! :D_

 _I already have ideas for what is going to happen next and I already started to kinda introduce them in the story (like the mini flashbacks Esmeralda is having of her sisters). I cannot wait to get there, I think the story will be much easier to write when I get there! And hopefully I will write faster!_

 _To the next chapter!_


	6. Chapter 6

_The news about Lucius' and Narcissa's suicide have arrived to Draco's ears._ _Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived to the Burrow to tell him the truth._

 **CHAPTER SIX**

"I don't remember anything", Draco lied. He did remember one thing from that night: the green flash of light. But he was still not sure it had really happened. Kingsley arrived to the Burrow alone, not accompanied by Aurors ready to arrest him and bring him to Azkaban. So no... it could not have been the Killing curse then.

"The Aurors have almost concluded the investigation. That is why I can come to you with an explanation about what happened almost a week ago. I am deeply saddened to tell you that the rumours are true: your parents' deaths have in deed been ruled as suicides... Your father has hung himself in his cell. As for your mother...It seems like she had valuable things moved out of your home days before and stored in the family's fault. She had planned to burn down the Manor...and to perish by fire."

Kingsley stopped talking to look at Draco. The boy had his head down, his forehead almost touching his knees. He could hear him breathing rapidly, trying to calm himself and fighting the tears. He had the impression Esmeralda had not blinked nor moved an inch since he started talking. She was still holding that glass of what he believed was whiskey and Kingsley wished he could have one as well.

"Are you alright, son? If you need more time, I can come later or another day", he suggested.

"No! I need to know!" Draco lifted his head and looked him in the eyes. His were reddened but still dry. He has cried most the previous night, mourning his parents. Now, he was just in shock to learn the circumstances of their deaths but still he wanted to hear all the details Kingsley had so far.

"The Aurors examined your wands, found on the premises. I cannot deny that you were considered as a primary suspect since you could not be found on the scene. That is the second reason why I was a bit mad at Arthur and the boys: as you know, you would have been taken into custody until the experts had finished evaluating your implication in the matter. The fire spell used was the same one that burned down the Burrow a few years ago... a spell used by Death Eaters."

"So you thought I did it. That I had gone back to that."

"We had to start somewhere. They examined your wand, or I should say what was left of it, and it seems like you did not cast any spell nor curse that could of provoked the fire. Nor any defensive ones. So we assumed you hadn't been attacked nor felt threatened and that is the reason why we looked into your mother's wand... Esmeralda, do you know what happened to Draco's arm?"

She did not expect him to turn towards her and talk to her. She tried to not move or make any noise, tried to pretend she was not there with them. She cleared the throat, trying to clear that knot she had there since Kingsley had started talking. "I don't know exactly. It was dark magic for sure but I cannot say what the spell was."

"And the Dark mark? Is it still there?"

"No. There was a big piece of flesh missing, exactly where I assume the mark was. I could see bits of ink here and there but when I -", she stopped, not sure if she should reveal to the Minister of magic what she had done without any medical supervision.

"You think I haven't noticed both of you have a bandage at the same place on your arm? Go on", he said with a smile, reassuring her it was okay what she had done.

"When I grafted my skin on the wound, I made sure it covered them well. We should not see anything left of it when it will be completely healed."

Draco could not believe what she just said. The Dark mark, the one he got mainly to make his father proud, was no more.

"Draco, it seemed like your mother had found a way to get rid of it but it must have been a very powerful and complicated spell and that is why you got so badly wounded and fell unconscious. It seems like you snapped your wand in half when you fell on the floor. She then levitated your body out of the Manor but she remained inside. There is nothing left of your home, son. We could not extinguish the fire and at the end it burned the Manor to the ground. Again, I am deeply sorry for everything."

Kingsley had gotten up and put a hand on Draco's shoulder. ''We are not closing the investigation. Your father had only a couple of months to serve in Azkaban: we were planning on reducing his sentence to house arrest for good conduct. His lawyer must had informed him. As for your mother...these last few years had taken a toll on her and made her seem like a cold and severe woman but you and I are not the only ones to know she was not her true self. I will let you know when the bodies will be released so you can start planning the funerals.''

"No", Draco said, "No funerals". His words caught Kingsley and Esmeralda by surprise. "I will have a private and intimate ceremony for them and bury them in the Malfoy cemetery. I don't want the press there. I don't want the people who turned their backs at us there." He did not speak with a hateful tone of voice but instead very calm.

 _They just dug a hole and buried your mother like you bury a dog_

Words came to Esmeralda's mind but she knew it would not be the case of his parents. He might not allow anybody to come but he would make sure their souls rest in peace.

"Well, I have to go. Like I said, I will keep you informed of the latest developments", Kingsley said as he got closer to the fireplace.

"Wait! One last question...So they didn't leave anything for me? A letter? A message?" Draco asked.

"We don't know. We haven't found anything on the premises and in your father's cell. His lawyer visited him a few days before his death so we are going to ask a judge to demand he reveals what his visit was about."

"Mr. Dermouth? He is an old family friend. I am sure I ask him-", Draco said before being interrupted by the Minister. "It wasn't Dermouth. Your father hired a new lawyer one month ago and he's not being very cooperative. I suggest you go visit your family's vault instead at Gringotts as soon as you can: maybe they left something for you there. I also strongly recommend you don't go alone, for moral support and for your own protection. I am sure Esmeralda won't deny going with you."

"Sure, no problem", she lied. Everybody, even Kingsley, knew she did not like going out in public places. Muggles and wizards would not stop staring at her, mainly because of her clothes. Muggles had a lot of prejudices against muggle gypsies and wizards were just curious to see one in the city.

Kingsley grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it in the flames, instantly turning them green. He stood in the middle and, after giving them a warm smile, yelled "Ministry of Magic!" and disappeared, sucked through the chimney.

...

"Do you mind going now? If you can, of course. I would also like to pass by Ollivander's and get a new wand. And new clothes." As he got up, by himself this time, Esmeralda noticed Ron's pants she had given him were actually a bit too short for him. She found it hard to believe he was taller (but probably not taller than George). She could not help it but laughed a bit of his look.

"Okay for the clothes and the visit at Gringotts but for your wand, let me write to my brother. He's the best gypsy wand maker of all Europe, trust me. He will handcraft you one custom-made, one-of-a-kind. Better than anything you could find at Ollivander's."

Draco had no doubts about that: gypsy-crafted wands were the best ones you could find in the market but at the same time very rare. Also, a custom-made wand was almost impossible to ask for. Gypsies were very selective about their clientele. "Are you sure that's okay?" Esmeralda had already scribbled a few words on a parchment paper and was attaching it to Yippy, one of the Weasley's owls. "Lash cannot say no to me." She kissed the owl on top of its head and send it off, trusting the bird would find how to get to her brother.

"We go?"

...

He had a friend who owned a little shop in Diagon Alley. He was sure he could count on him to not reveal to the press he was still alive.

"I'll have your pants and shirts ready in about a week. I will owl them to you."

"Thank you Bobby. And thanks for your discretion."

"Hey, I'm glad you are okay, mate. Here, while you wait, have these, on the house!" His friend handed him a bag with more clothes, his size this time. They walked out the store to a street that would have been crowded if it wasn't for the fact kids had returned to Hogwarts that same morning and most wizards were still at work at this time of the day. Draco made sure the hood of the cape he borrowed from the Weasley's entrance closet hid well his face so nobody could have a peak and recognize him.

They walked down a block to finally arrive in front of the massive goblin-forged golden doors of Gringotts. Esmeralda had never been inside the bank and found that the clerks working there were all very rude and unwelcoming as no one lifted their head from their books to greet the clients coming inside. They walked all the way to the end of the bank, to the tallest desk, where probably the oldest goblin in the place was looking through some papers and parchments. "Mister Malfoy, how surprise I am to see you here", he said without lifted his eyes from the documents he was holding in his hands. By his voice's tone, he sounded nothing like he was in deed surprised to see him there standing in front of him. "How may I help you?"

"I would like to visit my family's vault."

After they hopped into what seemed to have been a coal transporting wagon and ride the racks leading to vault number 256, Esmeralda was happy it did not go further down the tunnels under the bank. She felt a bit dizzy and, frankly, wished there was a bucket somewhere around, just in case.

"Are you okay? You look pale", Draco asked her, a bit concerned. "You've never been here, right? If you end up getting a vault here, you start getting use to the ride."

"I'm fine, I just need to breathe a bit."

"Ok, good, because it's not good when the healer starts to feel sick. Plus, thanks to you, I still don't have a wand to clean the mess in case you...you know..." He blew out his cheeks, clearly mimicking throwing up in his mouth. She tried to smile but it was better she concentrate her energy in keeping whatever was in her stomach in there. The goblin seemed to not care of her well-being and extended his hand towards Draco, asking for something.

"I don't need a key to open my vault. The door will open as I approached it." The goblin nodded and walked towards the door instead. With only caressing the door with one of his hideous short fingers, the multiple locks started to release the chains keeping the door locked. Like he said, as he started approaching, the door started to open itself, unveiling what was inside behind it. She was walking behind him but had to stop, seeing the door was about to slam itself on her face. "LET HER IN! She's with me!", Draco shouted in the air, apparently to the vault. The door opened again and what she saw inside left her breathless.

Several mountains of gold were lined on both sides almost all the way to the end. Some of them had been untouched for centuries, as a thick coat of dust was covering them. She knew the Malfoys were wealthy but never she had imagined to this extent. Automatically, she hid her hands in the pockets of her coats and speeded up her pace to walk next to Draco.

"Why are you walking like that?", he asked, noticed her odd way of walking.

"To make sure you know I am not taking anything."

"Merlin! Why would I think that?"

"Because...people usually think we are all thieves."

To her surprise, he laughed after hearing that. "I have seen your room. I am pretty sure you don't need this gold. I am actually more worried about this guy staying behind", pointing to the goblin who seemed to be getting a bit too close to the mountains of coins laying on the floor. "Keep an eye on him for me, please". Was it because the wink he just gave her or because he trusted more a gypsy than a goblin employed by the bank, Esmeralda did not know exactly what made her blood rushed to her head that fast.

After the gold were lined up in piles on the floor what looked like thousands of books. Draco stopped and stared, passing a hand in his hair. "All these books were in our library in the house. Mother moved them all here..." As he looked, he spotted a particular book, making a mental note to not forget to bring back with him to the Burrow. Further up, some antique and expensive furniture and art pieces, letting Esmeralda imagine how sumptuous and sophisticated Malfoy Mansion must had looked from the inside. Draco approached an elegant secretary desk, made of mahogany and with carved flowers all around the borders, and caressed the name appearing on a small golden plate on top of it. _Narcissa Malfoy_.

He lifted the cover up but all what was there was a block of paper with the Malfoy header and the quill his mother would use to write important correspondence. No letter. No message for him. There was another two desks next to it, more masculine, one more massive than the other two. _Lucius Malfoy_ that one said. The third one had the name of Draco written on it. Again, like he did for the other two, he lifted the cover but there was nothing under it.

"When I saw the desks, I was sure I would find what I was looking for in there. This is where she would leave messages to my father and me when she would go out." Esmeralda wanted to tell him to keep looking but, after giving a quick glance to the rest of the vault, it really seemed like Narcissa had left nothing for her son.

"Maybe it was simply too difficult for her to explain why they decided to do it. She obviously wanted you to have a different life, thus why she tried to get you rid of the dark mark. Maybe they felt that in their case it was too late...", she tried to give him a simple explanation, praying inside her words would not frustrate him even more. After a few seconds, he finally sighed and turned towards her. "I really thought my parents wouldn't had left me in the dark like that... Maybe you are right, maybe that is what they wanted." He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

As they were leaving, Draco stopped again in front of a pile of books and grabbed one that was almost at the bottom. Finally outside of the bank, they were on their way to the Leaky Cauldron to use the chimney connected to the Floo network to return home.

"What's that book you grabbed on your way out?"

"This?", he said looking down at the book he had in his free hand, "just a book, that's all."

She looked down as well and read out loud the title written on the spine. " _Réginal Malfoy's Travel Journal, 1870-1879..._ Seems very interesting!"

I could lend it to you after I'm done if you want".

"Yes please! I've finished reading all Hermione's books and school notes and I desperately need new reading material!", she exclaimed, clearly not trying to hide her excitement.

"Oh great, another one like Granger..." he mockingly said, rolling his eyes but with a smirk on his face.

...

Weeks passed and Hermione had left for Australia to go find her parents. Ginny had been named captain of The Gryffindor Quidditch team and the boys had not starved to death yet, thanks to the regular visits Esmeralda would pay them, bringing prepared meals with her. Draco would accompany her, helping her caring all the food since his arm had finally completely healed and had recovered all his strength and full mobility. He surprisingly started to enjoy Harry's and Ron's company and soon all their tumultuous past was behind them.

The different media outlets were finally informed that he was still alive, but only after one Gringotts employee leaked the information. He received dozens of sympathy cards from people who have become estranged with his family years ago; he did not read any of them. Luckily, he had time to host a private ceremony in honour of his parents where only a handful of his closest friends attended. The whole Weasley clan was there, as well as Blaise and Theodore. His aunt Andromeda Tonks showed up as well and gave him a warm hug, the first one in the many years they hadn't seen each other. Kingsley Shacklebolt attended too, accompanied by two Aurors in case of an attack. Fortunately, nothing happened and his parents were buried in the family cemetery. Sadly, as the ceremony was conducted, everybody had a view of what was left of the mansion: ruins and ashes.

"What do you think of doing here? Are you planning on rebuilding your home?", Harry asked after the ceremony.

"Not now... Besides, I would end up living alone in there and I am sure that living situation won't be of any good for me. If they don't mind, I am going to ask Arthur and Molly if I can stay a bit longer with them, in the country. I like it there, it's very peaceful."

As he was saying that, he looked at the girl standing behind Harry, her long blond locks shining against the black dress and coat she was wearing.

* * *

 _Hey everybody! Here's a new chapter for y'all! So I decided to do a little time jump at the end so we can get more into the meat of the story! Hope you don't mind it!_

 _Thank you so much to all the new followers! You don't know how happy it makes me when my email notifications pops out on my phone telling me I have a new follower!_

 _I cannot promise you a new chapter for next week as I will be very busy but I'll do my best! Like I said before, ideas should flow more easily now._

 _See you soon!_


	7. Chapter 7

_After Kingsley's visit, Draco and Esmeralda went to Gringotts where he hoped to find a note from his parents. After searching his family's vault, he realized they had left him nothing._

 **CHAPTER 7**

Months had flown by and November had come almost to an end. Frost had overtaken the cold mornings and snow was expected one day or another to change the color of the familiar landscape surrounding the household. Harry and Ron had come back for a few days to help Draco collect the necessary amount of wood to heat up the Burrow for the upcoming months of winter. Esmeralda could see them through the kitchen window cutting and placing the logs in piles near the chicken coop. She had been trying to stay focus on her tasks and have lunch ready for when they would be done but she kept getting distracted and caught herself staring at Draco more often than wanted.

"Esme! You are burning the bread!" The voice of Molly once again snapped her back to reality and to the now burn grilled cheese on the pan. "You've been so distracted lately". Esmeralda had a lot on her mind these past few days: first of all, it had been almost three months since she had written to her brother and hadn't gotten a response yet. They had found Percy's old wand in his room when they were cleaning it to make it Draco's and he had been stuck with it since then. The wand seemed to have a mind on its own and barely responded to Draco's spells and charms. At the end, he had giving up on trying to use it and been patiently waiting for the one Esmeralda asked her brother to craft. Deep down, he had a feeling it would never arrive but she, on the other end, hadn't lost hope. She would wake up very early every morning and run downstairs to the kitchen to check if an owl had not dropped out a package during the night. But nothing yet.

"Boys! Lunch is ready!" After hearing Molly calling them, the boys headed towards the house and took a seat at the the table while Esmeralda was serving the food.

"Tomato soup and grilled cheese. Your favourite. And mine as well. Thanks", Draco winked as she gave him his plate and took a seat next to him. She gave him a corner smile in response and took a first bite of her sandwich.

"I sure thought I would never need to split logs ever again... And here I am again... Starving!" Ron was already reaching for a second grilled cheese when her mom gave him a light smack behind his head. "Ronald! You have aging parents and your number one priority should be to care for them. Until you don't have one on your own, we are still your family! Talking about family, are you planning on proposing soon to Hermione? You don't want her to lose interest."

Ron rolled his eyes as Harry almost chocked of laughter. "Mom! Stop! We haven't passed the six-month mark yet, relax!"

"I want my children to be happy, that's all. Anyways, when the time comes, you know you can have Aunt Morgane's ring. Hermione always loved that ring."

While Ron was trying to convince his mother they were still too young to think about marriage, Draco had been quietly staring at Esmeralda's black gold ring. Harry noticed and gave him a subtle nudge with his foot under the table.

 _*Flashback to earlier that day*_

"Hey, how's it going? Ready to cut some wood?" Draco had just finished tying his boots and was sitting on his bed when Harry appeared at his door. "Ron is waiting for us downstairs...in the kitchen obviously..." Draco was not surprised. During the past few weeks he had witnessed with his own eyes how much the Weasley boys would eat and now knew from where originated the past financial struggles of the family.

"Harry, can I talk to you two minutes?"

"Yea sure, everything okay?"

Instead of answering him back, Draco reached for a book on his nightstand. "How much do you know about Esmeralda?", he finally asked. Harry had no idea what to respond to that question. "What do you mean?"

Draco started to feel even more uncomfortable with the question he wanted to ask Harry about. Maybe he should of waited for Hermione to come back from Australia instead of relying on Harry... or maybe have asked Esmeralda directly. Over the past months, they had spent a great amount of time together and he was feeling a strong connection between them, a connection he would be extremely saddened to jeopardize because of his curiosity. Nonetheless, what Blaise had warned him about, that black golden ring she wore, had stayed in his mind and finally he had found some information about it in the travel journal of his great-great grand uncle Reginald Malfoy. Now it was too late and he could not leave Harry hanging there, having him worrying about something probably not that important. "That black ring she has..." is all he needed to say. Harry's bright green eyes widened and, for a second, Draco was sure he would pretend to not have noticed the ring.

"Ah man...", Harry passed a hand in his black untidy hair and looked at the boards forming the floor. "It is not my story to tell and, besides, I don't know all the details, only what Ginny overheard when Esme got here... Maybe if you ask her she would tell you. I can see she had grown pretty fond of you."

'What do you mean?" It was now Draco's turn to ask the question. Harry's serious face lit up, relieving the tension between them. "Well, apparently she writes a lot about you and the time you spent together in her letters to Ginny and Hermione. And you can't deny that you two spend an awful amount of time together!"

"Yea, I guess..." Draco did not want to fully agree with his ex-enemy, now-friend, fearing it would uncover feelings what he was not ready to share with him. Feeling Draco's discomfort, Harry did not add anything more to the subject. "Anyways, just talk to her, you got nothing to lose. She might just hex you but you'll be fine."

...

The sun had just started to set when the boys were finally done with their task. All the wood needed to heat up the house during the months of winter had been cut and piled properly.

"Hey Draco, for a rich spoiled kid who never had to do a chore in his life, you did not too bad today", Ron said while wiping the few drops of sweat dripping down his face. Esmeralda could not believe Ron had just said that: Draco had been helping and working hard since he decided to stay at the Burrow and never one could of guessed he was new at cleaning the chicken coop or at mowing the lawn. He would help setting the table every evening before supper and clean the dishes after. All these tasks and chores had to be done manually, since his wand did not want to obey him. Draco never complained about it; he actually seemed to enjoy all this manual work.

"Hey, I have an idea!", Harry said, "let's go for a broomstick ride! The breeze will surely cool us off! We'll go fetch ours and we go right away!"

"Sure, but I don't have a broomstick. I am waiting for the new Nimbus to come out in January", Draco said.

"No problem, you can have one of Harry's! Trust me, you don't want to borrow Ginny's, its temper is even worse than Percy's wand!", Ron said as he stepped inside the chimney and disappeared in the green flames. Harry did the same after him.

"Are you coming with us? Do you have a broom?" Draco asked Esmeralda as he was taking his shirt off and wiping his neck with it. Esmeralda had brought him a clean, dry sweater to change and it was hard for her not to stare too much at him and his topless body. All the hard work he had been doing around had certainly help in keeping him in shape. Despite all the food Molly would serve him during their meals, he managed to keep a lean figure.

"No, it's okay, you guys go and have fun. I'll stay here. Besides, I've never been on a broom..."

"You have NEVER been on one?! Nobody has ever taught you?"

"Not really... I wasn't allowed to have one back at camp and here, well, I would just sit with Hermione and watched Ginny and the boys play Quidditch."

"Here, you're ready?" Ron had returned back, followed by Harry who was carrying two broomsticks. "Yes, just going to grab my coat and Esme's", Draco said nonchalantly. She jumped when she heard him say her name, not knowing what he had in mind.

A smirk appeared on Harry's lips and he clearly decided to play the innocent card to not embarrass Esmeralda. "Oh, you are coming too? Wait two seconds, I'll go get another broomstick for you".

"It's okay Harry, she'll ride with me", Draco clarified. As Harry was handling him his broom, he discreetly winked at the pale blond boy and whispered "That's what I wanted to hear, man" to him.

The night sky was clear of clouds, making the moon and stars shine bright and illuminate enough the surroundings for the group to be able to fly without casting any luminosity charm. The night felt warmer than the previous ones and a light breeze would come from time to time brush their hair. The conditions for flying were perfect but that did not prevent Molly from coming outside and making sure they would fly carefully.

"Esme, grab on Draco tightly. And don't look down! I made that mistake once... since then, nobody could convince me to go back on one!"

"Really, mum? Not even somebody like...I don't know... Like Alistor Belchester?" This cynic remark of Ron only earned him a second slap behind the head from his mother. "Be careful, boys. Don't stay out too late."

As soon as the matriarch went back inside, Harry and Ron passed a leg over their brooms and almost instantly took off like rockets. Esmeralda felt her legs shaking and unwillingly breathing faster than usual. Draco had already Harry's Nimbus in between his legs and, with a hand sign, told her to come closer.

"You can sit behind me." She was still hesitant. First, she was going to be meters far from the safety of the ground and, second, she would be holding on to him. Their bodies would be close to each other and that would definitely be odd for her. For him it wouldn't be: she was sure she wasn't the first girl he would bring for a ride in between the clouds. She lifted her head and saw the familiar silhouettes of Harry and Ron crossing the sky at high velocity.

"I'll take it easy, don't worry", Draco said with a reassuring smile and extending his hand to her. "Are you going to leave me hanging here? I won't take off without you". It was getting more and more difficult for her to say no to him. There was something in his voice and specially stormy grey eyes that she could not resist. She found herself grabbing his hand and jumping on the broom, positioned behind him, hugging his body tightly, like Molly told her to. A few seconds later, her feet were not touching the ground anymore and she could see inside the Burrow from the windows of the second floor, then from the third floor and finally they were hovering over the roof of the house.

"How does it feel so far?" He asked.

"Amazing" was the only thing she could think of saying to describe this experience. She was loving it. Harry came down next to them while Ron was still doing loops in the air. Esmeralda could not hold the giggles after looking at his hair: when you thought the hair of the boy-who-lived could not be messier, after this flying session a goblin-forged steel brush would bend trying to tame it.

"Do you trust Malfoy enough with your life to go higher and do a few spins?", he asked with a smirk directed at Draco. "She knows she's riding with the best Seeker of our generation, right Esme?", Draco had turned his head around and saw on her face how truly she was enjoying this moment in the air...with him.

"Lets go", she said as she ajusted her arms around his stomach to get a better hold. She let her head rest on his back and wished she knew a way to make this night last forever.

...

The heat coming from the fire burning in the chimney felt great on their skin numb by the cold air and wind present when they went higher in the night sky. Esmeralda's cheeks, ears, nose and hands were red as she tried to warm up as fast as she could next to the fireplace so she could go help Draco in the kitchen with the tea. Molly and Arthur were probably already sleeping and Harry and Ron had just left a few minutes ago. Soon, Draco appeared in the room caring in his hands two cups of steaming earl grey tea.

"I hope you are not going to get sick", he said as he handled her her cup.

"What about you? You did not seem to be cold up there", she said after taking a first sip. In fact, she was sure that, of all four, she was the only one shivering like a leaf while in the air. Draco smiled and looked at her with eyes she recognized from when he was about to be cocky and overconfident. "When you are a Quidditch player of my caliber, a night like tonight is a stroll in the park! As the star seeker for the Slytherin team, I had to play in the most horrible cond-"

He could not finish his sentence as she had thrown a pillow that had just missed his head. She had heard enough in the past weeks of their glorious days on the Hogwarts pitch and he knew she could not take it anymore.

"Hey! Girls used to throw themselves at my feet to hear the tales of my athletic exploits!", he joked. He stretched his body on the couch and sighed, thinking about the past. His mother had never had the opportunity to see him play Quidditch... He wished he could have one memory of her sitting in the stands and proudly cheering for him...

"I love how free I feel up there", he finally said. "I feel like I could escape anything while riding a broom. Nothing can stop me." Esmeralda reflected a bit on what he had just said. "I wish I could feel the same but I don't think I'll be ever able to experience complete freedom...". She felt a knot forming in her throat and her vision became blurry as tears were coming to her eyes. She took another sip of tea but was barely able to swallow it.

"The way you feel...does it have anything to do with that black ring you're wearing?"

Her sip of tea went down the wrong way. She coughed a bit and by looking at him she realized somehow he had found out about it. But how? Already the fact he had noticed the ring was pretty surprising. Maybe she should just ignore the question. "Wh-what ring? Wh-what are you talking about?" She knew she blew it up, the quiver in her voice being clearly audible.

Draco reached for his temporary wand left on the coffee table and for the first time it seemed to have listened to him. A book appearing in the room, floating towards Draco, and he reached for it before opening it to a page almost at the end of it. He hesitated first but finally decided to read out loud a few paragraphs of the book.

 _February 28,1879. Yesterday, as I was on my way to embark in a train to Paris, I stumbled across a group of very interesting people. They called themselves Gypsies and they had settled their colourful tents near the muggle train station. I got to meet their king, King Sherbellak, and decided to stay with them for a few days. Their culture is truly fascinating but what really made me postpone my trip to France is a woman with hair as black as a raven. Her beauty is ravaging and I was astonished to hear she was no man's wife yet. Gypsies girls younger than her were already married and with children. Her name is Isabella and, after asking around, I found out she is the king's daughter, a child he had out of wedlock. A bastard was the word they used. She doesn't share a tent with her father's legitimate children but lives in a small tent on her own, far from everybody. Despite her breathtaking beauty, no man seems to be interested in claiming her as his and her presence is being ignored by everyone as she walks amongst her peers._

 _March 2nd, 1879. I talked to Isabella. She is very introverted and shy, showing how isolated she is from the rest of the camp. I also suspect she is being mistreated by her siblings and seen like an inferior being. I asked her why she is alone, with no husband. She did not answer me back and instead ran inside her tent but not before I noticed she rubbed a black ring, similar to a wedding band, around her left ring finger._

 _March 7th, 1879. I am leaving tomorrow. King Sherbellak invited me in his tent and we shared a meal together. He asked me if I wanted to stay, even though it is very unconventional for a non-gypsy to be invited to remain amongst them. He said I could even choose a wife to keep me company at night. Any girl. I asked for her. As soon as he heard me say her name, his eyes darkened and his smile disappeared from his face. He told me I could not have her, as she is promised to the "Angel of Death"._

His great-great-grand uncle did not write anything more about his brief stay with the gypsies. Draco knew Reginald Malfoy had done a lot of traveling in his youth and there was a slight chance he might had encounter gypsies during one of his trips. He had finally gotten to that particular part in his reading of his travel journal the night before. He was not expecting her to break the awkwardness of the silence between them, but she did.

"How did you figure out it wasn't just an ordinary ring?", she asked. Draco expected her to be more on a defensive state, ready to tell him he had guessed wrong. "I didn't. Blaise did. He was worried for me, that's all."

Esmeralda got up, leaving her cup on the table, still half-full. "Tell Blaise to not worry." She wasn't mad at him, like she had been at Hermione when she tried to find out more about it by directly harassing her with questions years ago. Nonetheless, she did not feel like talking about it.

"I am sorry to have brought it up. It's really none of my business." It was a sincere apology but the whole situation brought back some painful memories.

 _No! What are you doing?!_

 _Please, please! Just leave me alone!_

Her muscles tensed just by remembering bits of that awful night. She really did not want to talk about it. As she was walking away, both heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen, like a flapping of wings. Forgetting about what had just happened between them, Esmeralda ran to the kitchen and saw, perched on top of the faucet, a big silver and black owl and a long narrow package he had dropped in the sink.

"Is that it?" Draco saw the package too and waited for her to pick it up and open it.

Under the kraft wrapping paper was a wooden box closed with a locket. "Where's the key?", Draco asked, making sure they did not lose it in the now crumbled wrapping paper that they had tossed aside. Esmeralda seemed to be amused to see him looking for it; she was certain they did not need a key to open the box but instead a password. She lifted the box and, as if the locket was actually an ear, she whispered "Lash is the best". The lock made a clicking sound and the top of the box popped open.

"Here's your new wand, Draco Malfoy" He had never seen anything like it. It was truly a work of art. The wand was long, about 25 cm maybe, and crafted in what seemed to be acacia wood dyed a very dark shade of brown. But, what really was breathtaking was the sculpted dragon head at the end of the wand. Every single detail was beautifully done, a true masterpiece.

"I would of never found anything close to this at Ollivander's! I can't believe how amazing it feels to hold it!"

There was a letter addressed to Esmeralda included with the package. Her brother might be the best wand maker in Europe but his handwritting was absolutely the worst. She recognized the letters forming her name on the envelope as his and felt a pinch in her heart. She missed him so much and she couldn't wait to see what he had to say.

She couldn't not laugh as she unfolded the letter. The first thing she saw was the big black ink stain at the top right corner of the parchment paper. Draco noticed her amused look as she was reading the first lines but suddenly he knew there was something wrong. Her hands started trembling, her eyes watering.

"Esme, is something wrong?"

She did not hear his question. She felt her heart racing , her lungs collapsing. "No...No...No...", for a moment she had the impression that "no" was the only word she knew. She read again the last paragraph of the letter, making sure she read it correctly. All of a sudden, she was not able to read it again for a third time. Her vision started to blur but not because of the tears. All she could see was white as if she was being blinded by a lumos charm directly aimed at her eyes. Her head started to feel light and heavy at the same time. She was not sure if she was still standing on her two feet.

As she realized she was losing her balance, she barely heard his voice calling her name and felt the warmth of his arms and body surround her.

* * *

 _Thank you so much for the new followers! In the next chapter you're going to finally find out why Esmeralda is living with the Weasley ;)_


	8. Chapter 8

_After going on a broomstick ride together, Draco finally asked Esmeralda about her ring but she refused to answer._

 _Draco's wand finally arrived with a letter for Esmeralda from her brother._

 _She fainted as she was reading it._

 **CHAPTER EIGHT**

Draco had gotten use to be wandless so when he saw the blonde girl panicking and losing consciousness, his first reflex was to drop his brand new wand on the floor and catch her before she hit the ground. He laid her down on the couch but after doing so he realized he did not know what to do next. She was still breathing, that was the first thing he made sure of. Maybe he should elevate her feet: he remembered having seen or read somewhere to do that in this kind of situation. He picked up his wand off the floor and pointed at her feet, slightly levitating them in the air. It was a pity his first spell with this wand had to be cast in these circumstances... The wand "fit" him like a glove, they were marvellously in sync with each other. Not knowing what to do next, he put a hand on her forehead. "That's stupid, she obviously doesn't have a fever, idiot", he mumbled to himself. He was considering going to wake up Mrs. Weasley when he heard a light moaning.

"H-humm..." She slowly opened her eyes and soon realized she was not standing up anymore but instead laying on her back. "What happened?", she questioned herself in her head. She turned her head to see where she was and saw Draco's concerned eyes looking at her. He moved a lock of hair away from her eyes and finally sighed of relief.

"Welcome back", he just said with a smile.

"How long was I gone?"

"Not long, less then five minutes I'd say."

He lend her a hand so she could sit up and had a glass of water appear in mid-air for her. As she grabbed it and started to drink, she noticed the letter she had received from her brother was still laying on the floor. "You didn't read it?", she asked him with a very weak voice. She still felt a bit dizzy. Maybe she just dreamed he caught her before she fell down and in reality she had actually banged her head on the floor...

"No, I didn't". In fact, he was so scared and worried about her that he had forgotten about the letter. He stretched his body and with one of his long arm was able to reach it and give it back to her. Under other circumstances he would of used this occasion to brag about his seeker's skills once again but maybe this time was not the best time to make a joke.

"You had no problem reaching for it... You truly must have been Slytherin's number one seeker for real...", she joked with a fainted smile. "Thank you".

He nodded. "So, what's in the letter?"

She tilted her head down, flattening one corner of the paper between her fingers. "It's complicated...I need to speak with Arthur and Molly".

...

There was no reason to wake them up in the middle of the night so Esmeralda decided to wait for the next morning to tell them. She was thankful Draco did not try to find out more about the letter, giving her her space, and simply kissed her goodnight after making sure one last time she was alright.

She witnessed the first sun rays of the morning piercing through her window's curtains. She had not been able to fall asleep, to close her eyes, afraid of reliving in her dreams that horrible night. After reading the letter for a 100th time, she still did not understand the logic of that decision but was thankful her brother warned her in advance.

She got up a few minutes before 6 A.M, put on her robe and headed to the kitchen. She heard some noise in there and recognized Molly's and Arthur's voices in the background. All of a sudden, she heard Draco's voice, asking Arthur to pass the sugar. "He's already up?", she thought he would sleep until late morning.

"Wow, everybody is up so early this morning! I did not hear you kids get in last night, I thought you would be staying in bed until 10 at least!", Molly said as she served her husband his eggs. "I could not sleep last night", Draco said before taking a bite of his toast. Esmeralda looked at him: he had dark circles under his eyes and these were red and a bit irritated. She probably did not look better... She passed a hand in her hair in an attempt to undo some of the knots in it, to look a bit more presentable at the table. "Me neither", she added to what Draco had said. Now that the morning had come and everybody was up, she could not evade the subject: Draco knew she needed to talk to them and let them know about the information she received in the letter. Whatever it contained was serious enough that it made her faint so he would not let her avoid the discussion. She felt a bit awkward standing there in front of everybody, knowing she would be the centre of attention in a few seconds. As he was eating, Draco's eyes would not detach from her, urging her to say what she had to say.

"What is going on?" Arthur must had sensed something what was not right as he put down that morning's edition of the Daily Prophet and told Molly to stop what she was doing and come sit with them.

"Last night, did...Did something happened between... between you two?", he finally asked pointing his index at both of them. Molly's cheerful facial expression completely changed, her eyes wide-opened staring at Esmeralda and Draco, waiting for their response. "You did not...", she said, but only staring at Esmeralda this time. She did not know what kind of education Draco had received during his life, but she had raised Esmeralda like her own.

Draco was the first to understand the meaning of their question. "Oh no! Merlin no!", he almost shouted, blood rushing to his cheeks. "She got a letter from her brother last night!" He did not mean to break the news for her; he only wanted to get their suspicions out of the way before they asked more embarrassing questions. Esmeralda just took out the letter from her robe's pocket and gave it to Molly who was sitting closer. "Sweetie, can you read it out loud? I don't have my glasses", she asked Arthur. He unfolded the paper and placed his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose.

 _"My dearest sister,_

 _It was been so long since I've heard from you! The owl you sent seemed to have known it had to be discreet and brought me your letter while I was out of sight, collecting wood from the Eucalyptus trees around our camp. I have to say this wand you asked for is so far my masterpiece, a work of art! Tell your friend it was an honour for me to craft this beauty. I am also sorry for the delay: I had to work on it during my spare time, making sure nobody knew about it. You know how protective of my work Father is._

 _Even though I am so happy to finally be able to communicate with you, I am sorry to be the one telling you some bad news. Belen and Branco are getting married and it was decided the ceremony will be celebrated on our lot of land in England. I don't need to explain to you what all this implies...I am so sorry, I tried to talk to Father about it but it was in vain, the decision had been already made. [...]"_

Arthur stopped reading and looked at Molly, who could not believe what she had just heard. Esmeralda, on the other end, with a shaky hand, wiped the tears pearling in her eyes. Draco was obviously clueless about the situation.

"I imagine they will arrive some day during the spring and the wedding will probably be held during the summer", Molly said with resignation in her voice. "We have to think of a plan to protect you, sweetheart. We cannot hide you in George's nor Ron's flat during their stay here, your father will ask to see you. I hope he will not ask you to sleep at camp. I will simply not tolerate it!" The middle aged woman slammed her hand on the table and got up to grab a plate and place it in front of Esmeralda. "You have to eat, pumpkin. You cannot let this idiot simply poison your life." Everybody knew Molly Weasley was a stress eater, turning to food to comfort her in nerve-racking situations.

"I will request the Auror Department to give a few days off to Harry and Ron so they can serve as personal protection of Esmeralda during the summer, at least during the week when the ceremony will be held. I am sorry Esme but we will have to explain the situation to them and let them know what happened between Branco and you. And that includes Draco as well." She nodded, knowing her secret had to be revealed one day to her friends.

"Who's Branco? What happened between you two?", finally Draco had the courage to ask. Esmeralda realized by looking at Molly she could not leave him in the dark any longer. He would eventually figure it out, specially when Branco would be around. Unlike Harry and Ron who won't be able to be there every single day, Draco could provide her all-day protection, making Branco unable to attack her.

"Branco is basically the reason why my father exiled me", she started, "and the reason why I am wearing this ring". The ring felt tighter around her finger, like a lasso around the neck. "Branco is the son of King Mirkos, King of the Eastern Europe gypsies, and he has been promised my sister Belen to be his wife since infancy. When he turned sixteen, about six or seven years ago, he started to come visit her and spend the summers with us. He would hang around camp with the other gypsy boys and spend time with my family, specially with Belen, obviously. But, a few years ago, he started to talk to me and always found ways to find me alone or isolate me from everybody else. He would compliment my hair, give me gifts that were clearly first intended for my sister... Then, as I got older, it was obvious he wanted something more than just talk to me. He told me he would of asked my father for my hand if it wasn't for the fact I am an illegitimate child and he could not sacrifice his position and birth rights just to be with me. But at the same time, he could not just let me go."

"That is an absolutely horrible thing to say", Molly mumbled and shaking her head in disapproval. "Thankfully, your father started to notice his future son-in-law's strange attitude towards you and decided to take matters into his own hands."

"That's right", Esmeralda continued, "Branco would not leave me alone and my sister Belen was getting very annoyed by that. I told my father I tried to push him away but he would always come back. I wanted him to go but my father could not just tell him to leave and break up the nuptials arrangements...Instead he gave me this ring, promising me in front of everybody to the Angel of Death, thus making me an "untouchable". Only the King has the power to annul the bond between the ring wearer and Death and only him can take it off... unless death occurs prior to that". She stopped talking for a moment and took a deep breath. "But that did not stop him".

Draco started to feel uneasy, nervous: he did not want to hear the rest, having a feeling of where all this was going. "The protection the ring offers is purely symbolic but even so no gypsy man would ever consider taking what had been giving to Death itself. But, one night, after putting my older sisters' kids to bed, I was walking towards my tent when I felt his hands grabbing my arm and yanking me inside his tent. I always made sure to not pass near it but he had it moved right after dawn. When I realized where I was, it-it was already too late. He had charmed the entrance so I could not leave. I started panicking and tried fight him but he was much stronger... He simply immobilized me with one arm and...and the last thing I remember is feeling his hands getting under my shirt..." She stopped, not only because she had no recollection of what happened after, but because she felt like she was suffocating, like she needed more than the air living beings normally breath. She had sworn to herself this experience would not affect her like it used to but there was something this time that triggered her brain to remember this particular scene more vividly than all the other times. For the first time, she felt as if his hands were crawling up her body again. The one detail she could never tell anybody was that she remembered feeling his hard manhood pressed against her back. She knew this particular moment of the attack triggered her brain to shut down, trying to protect her mind and soul from the sequels this assault would leave.

"I can't listen to this anymore", she heard Draco say, breaking his silence. He could not bare to know something that awful had happened to her.

Molly had gotten up after her husband had asked her for a cup of strong coffee. He took a few sips and, sensing Esmeralda could not finish her story, continued: "Luckily, we still don't know how since Branco had made sure to cast silencing spells around his tent, her brother heard her scream for help and got in there just in time. Esmeralda had lost consciousness and was laying under that son of a bitch... Lash dragged him out of his tent and they started to fight. Not only Lash is an amazing craftsman but an excellent boxer as well, thanks to Charlie's lessons when he was still living here. The men came out to separate them and Lash told his father she was laying unconscious in Branco's tent. Branco denied the fact he forced her in, saying instead she came inside on her own to him and when they got caught by Lash, she pretended to be a victim. Obviously, Melquiades sided with his two youngest children but he could not simply expel Branco from his clan, breaking the marriage arrangements with his other daughter at the same time. It would of caused a dispute between their two clans and that was something he could not risk. Also, Belen and her older sisters sided with Branco's version and believed Esmeralda had been teasing him since the beginning."

"Those girls...How can they say that about you!?", Molly said as she came next to Esmeralda and hugged her like she had never before. "Melquiades did not want to start a war within his own family. Soon he realized he could not leave Esmeralda unsupervised: her sisters started to viciously attack her, worse than before, physically and verbally. And Branco had clearly not given up on her. So he decided to leave her under our care. The gypsies own the land across the fields and we have been close friends with Melquiades for decades now. We have known Esmeralda since she was a baby and she had spent numerous hours playing here with our children during the many summers they had spent here. This is the reason we could not refuse him this favour." She placed a kiss on the blond girl's forehead and gave her a warm look. Arthur gave her the same look, with a smile fathers usually reserved for their own daughters.

"There is one thing I don't understand...Why are they getting married here?", Arthur asked out loud but his question was not particularly directed to Esmeralda. It was common knowledge that gypsies celebrate weddings in the groom's clan territory and not vice versa, since the bride would after moved in with his family. If Lash said they would be celebrating the nuptials here in England, it only meant one thing...

"Branco is going to stay amongst them", Esmeralda whispered to herself.

...

Esmeralda had spent the whole morning in her room, returning to bed shortly after breakfast. Even though he had only known her for a few months, Draco knew it was unusual from her. She would help around the house and make sure the heavy load of the work would be done before noon. He was standing in front of the bedroom door, hesitant in opening it and making sure she was okay.

"She's outside, sweetheart". He did not hear Molly walking up the stairs and jumped when he heard her voice, a bit ashamed to have been cut staring at the door knot for a while now. "Outside?", he asked, a bit confused.

"I think she apparated near the chicken coop, where she grows her herbs during the summer."

He nodded, thanked her and headed downstairs where he grabbed his coat and went outside. Molly was right: there she was, standing in the snow, her back to him. She was simply staring at the distance, across the cornfield behind the Burrow. She must have heard him approached, as the snow cracked under every step he took towards her. He stood next to her, imagining how golden the cornfields must look like during summertime.

"One morning when I was 6, I accidentally burnt my sister Selina's eggs. It was my first time cooking and she had just dragged me out of my bed to come and make her breakfast. When she saw the black smoke coming from the pan, she stood up from the table and slapped me across the face. As she was yelling at me, I just took off and ran inside the field and hid there for hours. Fred and George found me and brought me to Molly, who served me a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese." Esmeralda broke the silence, opening to him, telling him another souvenir she had of her childhood. Despite how the story begun, it was a happy memory for her. "For me, the Burrow is and will always be a safe haven. Even though I had been living here for only two years, the Weasley always treated me like one of their own. But I can't stay here forever and abused of their hospitality much longer. I always thought I will go back to my people after Belen got married and left to start her life with Branco with his people. But now, knowing they won't leave... I really don't know what I am going to do..." Her voice choked as she was trying so hard not to start crying again, specially in front of him.

"What about you leaving? Going away and starting a new life?", Draco asked. That was what he had in mind for himself months ago, before his parents' death. He thought of going away, perhaps the United States or even Canada, and making a new name for himself. The stares, the murmurs when he passed by people...he slowly could not take it anymore.

"My only two options are to remain unmarried and live at home with my family or to get married and leave with my husband to his clan. Forget about the second option: no gypsy would ever consider marrying me. I have no dowry and the man won't gain any title by doing so. And I can't just leave and live on my own. It's unheard of a gypsy woman living on her own in the Wizard world and my father will never allow it. " It was just a frustrating situation and she felt like a mouse in a trap, with only one logical solution to her problem. Sadly, this meant she would be at the mercy of Branco and nothing is going to stop him of abusing her.

Draco had not say a word but she understood it was a difficult and awkward situation to be involve in. She waited a bit without saying anything in case he had something else to say but soon she started to feel the cold winds going through the multiple layers of clothes and blanket she had wrapped around her. "That Isabella in your ancestor's book...I've heard about her."

"Why didn't you say it before?", Draco said, surprised by her revelation.

"Because what Reginald Malfoy wrote about her is not entirely true, but I don't blame him, he wasn't told the truth about her. She was not the King's daughter but a girl he stole from a rival gypsy camp. She was giving this ring because...because the King wanted her for himself. He had his wife but he was spending every night with Isabella, probably against her will. That is why she was mistreated by everybody. He was probably waiting for his wife's death to be able to marry her but...she took her own life a few years after your great grand uncle left. She reunited with the Angel of Death as promised...and was set free." Esmeralda looked at black band around her finger for a moment and smiled, which Draco found a bit odd. This story should of made her sad, not happy.

"Esme? What are you thinking of?", he asked, a bit scared of the answer she could give him. Even though it was cold outside, he felt drops of sweat dripping down his spine, giving him goosebumps all over his body.

"This was her ring. Maybe, at the end, my depstiny is to follow hers..."

* * *

Ahh...I hate (and love) leaving you guys on a cliffhanger...At first it was really not my attention at the beginning to make Esmeralda think that death is her only way to escape, but as I was writting this chapter, it just came to my mind like that. Maybe this will trigger Draco to make a move soon...who knows

Thanks again to all the new followers and the few new reviews! I don't get too many but they still encouraged me to write more! :D But please, don't be shy, I would love to know what you think of the story so far!

I am sorry I did not upload this chapter earlier but I got sick and I got writer's block as usual -.-... it sucks when it happens... There was a lot of information about Esmeralda's past in this chapter and I want to apologize in advance if something is not clear (tell me and I'll try to explain it better!)

Thank you again! See you next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

_Esmeralda got horrible news: her sister's fiancé is coming back, forever this time._

 _Arthur and Molly are concerned for her security during the wedding festivities but she is more frightened by what her life could be like when she returns back with her family._

 **CHAPTER NINE**

 _"Maybe, at the end, my destiny is to follow hers"_

Draco would not stop thinking about what she said. Those words she spoke so nonchalantly felt like a dozen daggers piercing his skull. He never thought she would be the kind of person who saw death as an escape.

But neither he thought were his parents. Still today he had trouble understanding the motives of the extreme decision they took. At least in this case, he had an idea of what was going on in Esmeralda's head. He had to find a way to help her. Quick.

He had spent the rest of the day in his room, laying down on his bed, trying to sort out all the events that had happened during the last twenty-four hours. He had gotten a new wand but was not feeling as excited as he thought he would be, finally not having to rely on an old, uncooperative wood stick. He had left it on the night stand next to his bed last night before going to bed and had not touch it since then.

Right after Esmeralda had finished talking, before he could say anything, Molly came outside to ask her if she would accompany her to visit an old friend of hers who needed help to heal a wound inflicted by some magical creature Draco had never heard of before. _''Probably Lovegood...''_ , he thought to himself. Before Esmeralda turned around to follow Molly back in the house, in an impulse he stopped her, grabbing her shoulder in a quick movement. So sudden he even surprised himself, not knowing why he had just done that.

''I...'', he cleared his throat, giving him half a second to think of what to say. ''Lets talk about this later'', he simply said. She faintly smiled at him and walked back to the Burrow. He followed her with his eyes, feeling sorry he hadn't found anything better to say.

The last time he had sat at this table was the night his mother ended her life by setting their family home on fire. She hated seeing him leave home so late only to come here and get drunk with his friends. He started to come to this bar after he stumbled upon it on one stormy night. Theodore could barely walk without his help and Draco was himself one firewhiskey shot away from being in the same pathetic condition. Water was pouring so hard from the black clouds covering the moonlight they could barely keep their eyes open.

"Dee...I can't...arg...can't even breathe! Let's just appa- apparate at your place!", the Nott boy whined as he was desperately trying to put a foot in front of the other. They had left a party down the street after Theodore had gotten into a fight with some guy he didn't even know. Draco had to take Theodore with him after seeing he was so drunk he was incapable of standing on his two feet; if he doesn't return back home by dawn, Jinny, his house elf, would probably appear at his house early in the morning, screaming and looking for her master. Another thing his mother hated.

"We can't, dumbass! Merlin knows where we would land!"

The truth was that Draco felt perfectly capable of apparating both of them safely back to his house. But he did not feel capable of confronting his mother again tonight, specially with this stinging alcohol smell escaping from every pore of his skin. He would not mind if she would scream at him or even slap him in the face, but cry... He could not bare seeing her cry, begging him to not throw his life away. During the day he had no problem being the man she wanted him to be. But at night...

"Ah man, can you make more of an effort to stand up?!" Draco was getting tired of dragging his drunk friend around when finally he saw light coming from a small pub at the end of the street. "Hey, look, round two baby!", he laughed as he gave Theodore a slap in the face to wake him up.

After that night, this small pub became their new hangout place and their tab had no limit. They would sit at the exact same table almost every night and drink their problems away. Well, Draco did. He wanted to forget, to feel that comforting numbness alcohol would give him. Theodore Nott, on the other hand, just wanted to get wasted and have a good time. Blaise would tag along sometimes but secretly Draco prefered when he wasn't around: he would not drink as much as they did and at the end of the night he would end up bringing them back home. And home was exactly where Draco did not want to be.

Their glorious family estate had lost in a few months all the notoriety and prestige it had acquired in the last centuries. His presence could still be felt inside the main hall, where he tortured and murdered innocents. The walls of Malfoy Manor still stank of blood. But the worse was at night, when he was certain the laughter of his evil crazy aunt Bellatrix still haunted the halls and corridors of his family house. Even though he knew the Dark Lord was dead, his aunt had perished and the menace was gone, he could not sleep. He would lay in bed for hours, always worrying if it was real or not and wishing it would all stop.

 _"Maybe, at the end, my destiny is to follow hers"_

His nights of terror were long gone. Since the mansion burned down, even though he suffered the loss of his mother at the same time, he had finally been able to find peace at night and didn't not need the help of vodka and whiskey to fall asleep. But last night was like a deja-vu, only this time it was a different voice resonating in his head. After staying a few hours alone at home, waiting for Molly and Esmeralda to return from their visit, he could not take it anymore; he grabbed his coat and apparated in front of that pub again.

He hated this habit of his, drinking his problems and worries away, but that was all he had to help him. At the time he did not feel like talking to his friends about it: they had it probably as hard as he did, surrounded with Death Eaters parents and close relatives. But he could not stop thinking his situation had been worse. He had been given tasks no other kid his age had to do. He had been given the dark mark no other kid his age had to permanently wear on his arm. He felt selfish thinking this way but could not think otherwise.

With winter season approaching, days were slowly but surely getting shorter and he noticed the lampposts outside going on. The bartender recognized him when he had entered the little pub and had his usual table cleared out for him, even though he did not ask for it. The table was situated in a corner of the room, next to a window and Draco was happy to see the owners had still not replaced the burned light bulb above it. It did feel more intimate this way and it seemed like no one would pay attention to him. He made sure to keep the hood of his coat on his head, covering his platinum hair, trademark of his infamous bloodline.

It had started to snow outside when Draco noticed a tall hooded figure entering the bar, marching towards him. He did not think anything of it, thinking he was coming to sit at the table next to his. He brought his attention back to what was in his glass and was genuinely surprised to hear a familiar voice greeting him.

"Well, well, who do we have here? The Slytherin Prince himself."

Draco lifted his head up and was able to have a visual confirmation of who he already knew the hooded man was. "Blaise! What are you doing here?"

Blaise took a seat next to him and ordered a glass of a muggle Canadian whiskey. "Probably not for the same reasons you are here, that's for sure", he replied, taking his hood off his head. Draco did the same, feeling more comfortable now that he had company. Even though his glass was still half full, Draco ordered another one, on the rocks and same as Blaise.

"Already prepping for a long night of debauchery? I thought the old Malfoy had perished that same night he was rescued from the fire", Blaise laughed. It felt pretty unusual hearing him say something like that, even more with a smile.

"I've been here for a few hours now, my drink got horribly hot", Draco said, pushing the glass to the centre of the table. "Really, what brings you here?", he asked again, having not been given a clear answer the first time. The owner's daughter, a tall girl with red locks, brought them the two drinks they ordered.

Blaise gave his whiskey a couple of swirls, detecting an aroma of butterscotch before taking a sip. "I always imagined you would be the first of us three in this situation..." He quickly raised his eyes to make sure he had his friend's attention, not willing to repeat himself. "I got a girl pregnant", he said with a smirk, to Draco's surprise.

Draco almost felt off his chair. "What? How?!", was all what he was able to say.

"Hey, I don't think I need to explain to you how the human body works." He leaned back on his chair, amused by Draco's astonished expression. He even felt a bit of pride now their roles were inverted.

"What I meant is how the always serious and careful Blaise Zabini got a girl pregnant?" Draco was still in shock, given their young age. Although already considered adults in the Wizard world, they nonetheless still were not ready to be parents.

"Seriously, I don't know...At first I thought it was bad luck and mostly blamed the accident on her", he said, this time more seriously, like the Blaise Draco always knew. "I was mad at her, mad at myself. I seriously considered leaving her and... refusing to acknowledge the child. I was not ready to be a father! Or maybe I just did not know how to be one. I mean, I had what? Six, seven step-fathers? I never had a true paternal figure in my life. So I started to come here pretty often, got a few drinks in my system and drowned my sorrows in expensive whiskey. But then one day, all of a sudden she started to show, you know, a rounder belly...", he paused and gave another swirl to his drink with one hand and mimicked a bigger stomach with the other. Draco noticed his stare softened. "And, that day, I ended up here again, a gin tonic in hand, thinking about possible names! Names for the baby man! I am telling you mate, on that day not only I realized I was going to be a dad...but also that I wanted to be one as well."

Draco listened carefully to every word his friend just said. It was probably the first time Blaise was so opened with him. And certainly the first time he spoke for that long! He understood his reticence for his new role: he had in fact never met his father and his mother seemed incapable of keeping a husband long enough to celebrate a first wedding anniversary with . Draco felt the same, although for different reasons: he did not want to be like his dad.

He gave him a serious stare for a couple of seconds but could not keep his poker face any longer. With a big smile, he stood up and hugged Blaise, giving him a few taps on his back. "Congratulations man! Never thought this day would come this soon but hey! at least I get to be the awesome uncle!" They took back their seat and finished in one sip what was left in their glasses before ordering one more round. "So, tell me, who is the lucky lady? Do I know her?"

"Ah, yes you do know her. The lovely woman carrying my baby is Astoria Greengrass", Blaise replied. Astoria was Daphne's sister, a girl in their classes, both Slytherin girls. Draco remembered her having straight long blond hair, big almond-shaped green eyes and pearly white teeth. She was the kind of girl he was sure his father would have been delighted seeing him bringing back home.

"Astoria? Wow, double congratulations B!" Draco tapped his back once more. "With you and Astoria as parents, your baby will be gorgeous, that is for sure. But, most importantly, I am certain you'll be a great dad".

Blaise laughed. "And you'll make a great husband to Esmeralda".

Blaise's sudden affirmation took Draco by surprise. "I- I don't understand what you mean by that... Where did you get that idea from?"

"Draco, you are my best friend. I can read you like this!", he said snapping his fingers with a smirk on his face. It did not take Draco more than a second to understand what he meant by that. "You dog! You read my mind!"

"I was surprised to see you here, months after your parents' passing, that's all. I was worried for my friend. My motives were totally honourable".

He did not mind it: Blaise made it easier for him to talk about what had been tormenting him since the night before. But still, he didn't want him to know all the details. It wasn't his story to share with others. "What else do you know?"

"Nothing more. Like I said, you are my friend and I would never do anything to violate your trust."

Draco remained silent, gathering his thoughts. He should had gone to see Blaise instead of coming here. He always was a great listener and gave great advice, but Draco had seemed to have forgotten these qualities of his since the war ended.

"She has nowhere to go...She cannoy return living with her people. She-", he took a first sip of the new drink he had in his hand, "She will be unhappy there".

"Unhappy? I find you in this state of torment only because you worry about her happiness amongst her peers?"

Draco passed a hand in his hair. "She won't be staying with the Weasleys forever nor wants to live on her own. She thinks she has to return to her father and family but...there's a man there who will hurt her and make her miserable...and...and..."

"And you love her."

Again, another affirmation coming from his mouth took him by surprise. His eyes widened, feeling a bit uncomfortable he was so easy to read. Blaise, seeing his old house mate's astonishment, chuckled. "Hey, relax. Does the _L word_ frighten you this much? We're both adults, we can have big boys' conversations now."

"Stop mocking me. What's the use of being in love if I cannot protect her? I can't do anything for her"

"Why do you think you cannot protect her? Umm? How did you get that idea in your pretty blond head? I see you got a new wand, a fine one I must say. Either you won't be staying eternally at the Burrow; soon you'll have a place on your own. And you are more than financially stable: you are still amongst the wealthiest people in Europe. Really, is there a real reason stopping you from at least telling her how you feel about her? You know, normal people declare their love first and then propose. "

"And also they get marry first and then have babies", he replied back with a smirk. Draco used to be annoyed sometimes when he was being schooled by a boy a few weeks older than him and always found something smart to say to shut him up. They both had a good laugh. "Seriously, do you understand what I mean? You feel like this because you are going too fast, mate! You are skipping important steps and that's why you feel like shit!"

Draco, after listening to his friend, felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Maybe he was right. Instead of obsessing about the solution, he should think about the plan first. He looked at his friend in the eyes and smiled. "You're right. One step at a time. Thanks man!"

"Always a pleasure, Malfoy. At least you, you listen, not like Nott! I feel like talking to a wall sometimes...a drunk wall!"

"Hey, now, you listen to your own advice and go make Astoria a respectable woman! Seems like you went too fast too!"

Blaise smirked, got up to reach a pocket inside his coat and took out a little black wooden box. "Why do you think I came to the Coven for?"

Draco got up as well and, after covering his head back with his hood, followed Blaise outside. "So, that's how this place's called?", he lifted his head to see the sign above the door.

...

Finally, he had a plan. At this time of the day, he would usually find her sitting in the living room, drinking a cup of hot cocoa before going to bed. He would simply take a seat next to her, like he usually did the nights he would join her, and say it. He had thought of suggesting to go on a broomstick ride and tell her then but the nights at this time of the year were too cold. She would certainly hate it and hex him for his stupid idea. Knowing her, she wasn't the girl who needed a scandalously loud and theatrical declaration of passion and desire. Desire...how could he be so oblivious of his own feelings? He truly wanted to be with her.

He apparated in the entrance of the Burrow and immediately noticed something different: an extra pair of boots. He heard Esmeralda distinctive laugh coming from the living room. Tonight she was not alone. All the courage and determination he felt two minutes ago vanished instantly.

"Draco! Where were you? Look, she's back!", she giggled when she saw him appearing in the room. In deed, she was there, the curly brown hair unmissable.

"How are you Draco?", Hermione asked innocently.

* * *

 _I am getting tired of constantly apologizing for not posting a chapter sooner! I wish I could give you a new one to read every week but... I can't! :(_

 _Thank you for all your reviews and encouragements! You give me the strength and inspiration to continue writing this story with your kind words!_

 _I suffered from "writer's block" writing this chapter, not even knowing how to start it nor what it would be about. Then, I had the idea it could be a chapter just about Draco! What did you think? You liked it? :)_


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